The Next Victim
by PinkAngel17
Summary: The team goes to Tennessee to solve a puzzeling case, but their goals change when one of their own may be the next victim. M/G.
1. Chapter 1: The Case

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Criminal Minds or anything, or one, related to it.

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Chapter 1: The Case

It was around noon when the call came in. The last week had been long and a bit boring since the only cases the BAU had were all "stay at home" cases. Which would have normally been nice, except all they could do all day was talk on the phone to other police departments or catch up on paper work. So when Hotchner and J.J. walked into the bullpen with the new case it was to find Prentiss basically yelling over the phone, Reid quietly working on a mysteriously large stack of paper work, and Morgan distractedly working on a report while smiling and talking on the phone.

"We've got a case in Tennessee." Said Hotchner after Morgan let out a loud laugh.

Prentiss immediately said good bye and hung up the phone. "Thank God. If they don't want our help they should stop asking for our advice."

By that time Reid had put his papers up and was standing next to JJ. "Should we call Rossi?"

"No, he hasn't had a good vacation in awhile." Replied Hotch as he continued to scan the files in his hands. "Who's Morgan talking to?"

"Garcia" The three agents replied in unison. With that Hotch looked up and saw Morgan joining them.

"We leave in ten minutes, so we'll brief on the plane." Hotchner informed the team.

"I'll go give Garcia a copy of the file so she can look over it." Replied JJ. And with that each team member went their own way with no idea what awaited them.

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Sorry this chapter so short, the next should be longer. I'm not sure how soon I can update because I'm going to try to write a sequal to "One of Those Days".


	2. Chapter 2: On the Plane

Disclaimer: Like I said before, I don't own Criminal Minds.

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Chapter 2: On the Plane

To say that the case was horrifying would have been an understatement. After their briefing the plane was unusually quite. Each person was doing their own thing trying to figure out what kind of person could kill four teenagers so brutally. Morgan was sitting on the couch trying to get into the guy's head. JJ was e-mailing the authorities in Tennessee informing them of when they would be arriving. Reid was memorizing maps of the area next to Prentiss who was reviewing the background with Hotch. Then they heard the comforting voice of Garcia over the computer. Morgan was the first at the lap top with the rest following.

"Hey team! I just got reports of another victim found in the woods near a park. I'm sending the file to your handheld now along with some other files of three more victims from three years ago. "

"There were other victims before now?" asked Reid

"Apparently these weren't considered to be by the same person because they were older, but other then that they're identical to the others. All were tortured for two days, raped, and then had their right hand cut off, vinegar and alcohol poured on them, and left in the woods."

"That all?" asked Hotch

"There were no prints or DNA recovered. This perv is careful."

"Ok. Thinks baby girl, you're a genius."

"Yep, I know hot stuff." And with that she was gone.

"So why'd this guy kill two adult women then come back after three years and kill teens?" Morgan wondered out loud.

"Something must have happened in those years to not only stop him, but also change his targets." Answered Reid. "And also look at this the women from three years ago both had blonde hair, were unmarried, and had no family. While now the targets are male and female, between fifteen and seventeen, and family doesn't seem to make a difference, but Garcia is right everything else is identical."

"It couldn't be a copy cat?" JJ asked

"No, none of the details were released, the patterns and force are the same and the unsub was left handed. Replied Reid

"We should be landing soon, Morgan you and Prentiss go to the last scene, JJ you and I will talk with the parents, Reid go over the cases of the other three women, we need to figure out why his targets changed." Said Hotch looking at the files and wondering who could do these things to children.


	3. Chapter 3: Figureing Out The Puzzel

Disclamier: Like I said before, I don't own Criminal Minds.

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Chapter 3: Figuring Out a Puzzle

They next day the team was going over what they had found out the day before when Morgan's phone rang.

"Hey baby girl, talk to me" he answered on the second ring. He put the phone on speaker and the room filled with the familiarly cheerful voice of Penelope Garcia.

"Guys, I was looking things up trying to connect the last few victims and guess what! All the teenagers went to the same youth group together. I'm sending you the address and info now." Garcia happily replied.

"Thanks Garcia" answered Hotch

"Excuse me, agent Hotchner?" Asked a police officer who just entered the room

"Yes"

"There was another body found that matches the others." The man replied as Morgan took the offered file from him.

"Now this is weird" stated Morgan with a curious look on his face. "This women is like the ones from three years ago, but has only been died for four weeks."

"Where?" asked Reid

Morgan then handed Reid the file for the young genius to look at. Reid read the file then looked at his handheld and back to the file obviously thanking. He then got a triumphant look and started speaking quickly. Luckily the other agents were used to so were able to understand.

" I thank I got it! I know why the unsub killed the teenagers. He didn't change his target he was just covering his tracts."

The others looked at him and motioned for him to continue.

"The information Garcia gave us says that the youth group meets every Friday at five. The woman was killed approximately four weeks ago, only a few of days before Alesha Kings was found dead. The woman was dumped in an alley only a half mile from the youth center on the same route that the other victims used to go home. You see the kids were probably on there way home and saw the unsub dump the body or at least he thought they did, so he watched them and then abducted and killed them one at a time."

"So the women were his real targets." Thought JJ out loud

"Right"

"Are there any more kids left who took that route?" asked Morgan

"Not according to Garcia's list."

"Ok, but why did he stop for three years before starting again?" wondered Prentiss

"Hmm…maybe cops were getting to close." Suggested Reid

"Or maybe he was in prison." Morgan supplied

"We'll have to get a better idea of who it could be before we determine that." Said Hotch thoughtfully.

"He is probably watching us. He may have even been here already since he believes he's better and smarter than us. We need to be careful, especially you JJ." Said Morgan

At that point the five had no idea how right Morgan was, but it wasn't JJ that needed to be worried. The unsub had already picked his next victim and had been observing his subject for a few days. She was perfect, he thought. He planned to have a lot of fun with this one. Now all he had to do was wait till the next day.


	4. Chapter 4: A Profile

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

Thanks to all of you who reviewed!

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Chapter Four: A Profile

The following day the team was up early in the field conference room going over a profile.

"Wait a minute that sounds familiar." Said JJ "When I was giving a press conference the first day here there was a man who fits that description pretty good. He was asking a lot of questions and seemed to thank he was smarter than the police and that we weren't doing a good job."

"What was he doing at the press conference?" Asked Morgan

"He said he was a reporter for a local magazine. His name was Joseph Rigswood."

"I'll get Garcia to check to see if a Joseph Rigswood ever worked for that magazine." Said Morgan turning toward the computer.

Garcia had been up most of the night. She rarely went home whenever her team was away on a case. She was on her way back from the break room with a fresh cup of coffee when she opened her door and had to step back for fresh air. 'Wow smells like someone set off a stink bomb in here' she thought. It was so strong she decided to leave her door open to help air it out. She then called maintenance, but they said that they wouldn't be able to come by for awhile because of a leak on the third floor. It had only been about twenty minutes when her team appeared on her screen.

"Welcome to the office of supreme beauty and brains, speak oh grateful one." Garcia said with a smile

"Hey gorgeous, we need your help again." replied Morgan with a wide smile.

"Ok, go"

JJ then gave her the name of the man and magazine.

"Ok, well it looks like there isn't, and has never been, a man by that name working for them or any other local magazine." Garcia answered "But… there is something related to that name….." she replied quickly reading a document.

"Garcia?" JJ said trying to get her attention. "What is it?"

"It says here that..." but before she could finish, Garcia felt a cloth cover her mouth. She didn't remember telling her hands to fly up to her face. She felt a firm gloved hand there and even though she tried, the hand wouldn't move. She began to feel light headed, but something in the back of her head told her to keep fighting. 'I can't' she thought as the lights began to dim, but before she could fade into the sleep calling her she realized someone was saying her name. 'Derek' she thought right before her eyes shut.


	5. Chapter 5: The Next Victim

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

Sorry it took me so long to update and thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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Chapter Five: The Next Victim

"_It says here that..." but before she could finish, Garcia felt a cloth cover her mouth…_

As the five team members stood looking at the computer screen they saw a black gloved hand wrap itself around Garcia's face and cover her mouth with a white cloth as Penelope's eyes widened and her hands tried to pry the gloved hand away with no affect.

"Garcia!" JJ and Morgan yelled at once as Prentiss dropped the file she was holding.

Hotch pulled out his cell and called security at the FBI, but a massage told him that they were having technical difficulties. They were stunned and felt helpless since all they could do was watch. Morgan looked like he was about to kill someone, but worry was also written all over his face. JJ held her hands over her mouth trying not to yell and Reid's mouth was hung open as he stared at the screen. Hotch was trying to remain look like a stonewall, but worrying was clearly visible and Prentiss was leaning against the table with her mouth slightly ajar.

Garcia's eyes began to close as Morgan kept calling her name and reassuring her that he would help her. When she finally passed out and fell back out of view all was quite.

Then the two gloved hands reappeared. They taped a paper on the screen and no one said anything as they read the sign that said. 'You will never catch me!' Then the screen went black.

Before anyone could say anything Morgan was running out the door with an angry look. The remaining team members silently agreed it would be best to follow him. Morgan ran out of the police department and straight to the SUV, but before he could start the engine Hotch was at the window.

At first Morgan thought that he was going to tell him to come back inside, but before he had a chance to tell Hotch to move Hotch spoke.

"Did you really think you were going to leave without us" Hotch said. He then turned and climbed in to the back seat. Then Morgan turned and noticed that the others were already in the SUV.

"Morgan go!" said JJ from the passenger seat.

Morgan took off for the airport as fast as possible while JJ and Hotch tried to contact anyone who might be able to help back at Quantico. Once in a while Morgan would hit the stirring wheel and curse at the traffic, even if there wasn't any, until they finally reached their jet.

Four hours later…

Slowly Garcia began to wake up. The first thing that she was aware of was the feeling of stiffness and lack of air. She opened her eyes all the way and realized she was in the trunk of a car and it was obviously moving. Another thing she realized was that her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were also tied. The car kept bouncing and running over what must have been rocks, either that or a whole lot of railroad tracks. 'Just great' Garcia thought as she began to drift back asleep after whatever he had given her began to take affect once more.


	6. Chapter 6: What Happened?

Disclaimer: I don't own it

Thanks to all of you who reviewed!

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Chapter Six: What Happened?

When the teams' plane finally landed Morgan was the first one out and heading to the van that was waiting for them. The ride to Quantico was much in silence. Once they got there they were met by security guards and other agents that were frantically searching the building and making calls.

"What happened" Demanded Morgan as he threw his bag on his desk.

"Agent Garcia's office is empty and there are no signs of a struggle." Answered one of the agents

"Of course there wasn't a struggle he snuck up behind her and drugged her." Responded Emily angrily.

"Why couldn't we get through to security?" Asked Hotch trying to remain calm but his anger was beginning to get the better of him

"About an hour before we discovered that Miss Garcia was gone someone called in an emergency on the ground floor, so many of us were down there and when we returned we discovered that some of the cameras had been moved to face the walls. We immediately went and manually turned them back." Answered a security guard

"Who called it in and what was the emergency?" asked JJ

"The caller was anonymous. They said that there was some ticking coming from a package that had been dropped off earlier. We thought it might be a bomb so we went to check it out."

"Was it?"

"No, just a clock that the delivery man must have dropped off by accident."

"Why do you say that?" Asked Reid

"Because, the address on it was for an apartment about three miles from here." Responded the guard

"We'll need another tech down here now." Said Hotch turning to the agent

"I'll go find one." He said and then left the bullpen glad to be away from the upset BAU team especially that Agent Morgan who seemed to still be fuming and ready to punch the first person who looked at him wrong.

"Alright, let's go check out Garcia's office and see if we can figure out how this guy got to our tech." said Hotch walking away obviously angry. The others quickly followed wanting to find their friend as soon as possible.

When they reached her office it was to find the door wide open and a smell coming from inside.

"Was the door open when you got here?" asked Morgan

"Yes sir." Answered a security guard

The five agents went inside and soon found themselves wanting to hold their noses because of the horrible smell.

The security guard then noticed their faces. "That smell was here when we got here. We found this in the corner." He said handing Reid a small tube with holes in the lead.

"It's a homemade stick bomb." Reid told his teammates with a curious look on his face and the excited tone in his voice told the others that he had figured something out.

"Did Garcia call security or maintenance this morning?" Reid asked the guard

"Umm… Yes she did." Answered the guard looking down at some notes he had. "She called maintenance earlier this morning about a bad smell, but they were busy cleaning up a bathroom on the second floor, so they said they'd be by later, but when they came by she was gone."

"What was wrong with the bathroom?"

"Turning a page of his notes the guard answered "Apparently a couple of sinks had gotten plugged and the water was running so the bathroom was flooded. There was so much water that it was spilling over into the halls. It was so bad it took almost all of the maintenance guys to clean it up."

"Wow, this guy really is good." Said Emily

"The unsub must have dropped off the package, called security to distract them, turned the cameras on his way up, and plugged the sinks to make sure maintenance couldn't clean up in here." Said Reid as if it were all obvious

"Why wouldn't he want Garcia's office cleaned out?" Wondered JJ

"Because, the smell was so bad that Garcia would have kept her door open to air it out, which meant the unsub could sneak in without any trouble or her hearing him."

"So, how did he get the stink bomb in her office in the first place?" asked Morgan

"Another agent said she saw a maintenance worker up here looking like he was lost or something. She just thought he was a newbie." Said a young agent who had just walked in

"When?" Asked Hotch in disbelief

"A couple hours before Agent Garcia was taken"

"She must have gone for coffee and that's when he left it." Said Morgan "But how did he get in?"

"I thank I know." Said Emily who had been listening but staring down at the door frame. She walked over to the door and picked up a small piece of metal. "He probably slipped this in between her door as she walked away and before the door closed. He was dressed like a maintenance man so she didn't pay attention to him."

"Ok, he only knocked out some of the cameras, so those were probably the halls he used to get out. The question is how did he get her out with out anyone seeing?" Wondered Morgan out loud walking around Garcia's office.

"According to these notes, the cameras that were turned were all in mostly deserted halls, if he was dressed like a maintenance man who would notice him pushing a garbage can out the backdoor." Said Reid reading the notes that the security guard had given him

"He put her in a garbage can?" asked JJ astonished and angry at the same time.

"Son of a …" said Morgan running a hand over his head and pacing again.

"I don't care if we have to ask everyone in this building, someone had to have seen him or at least his car." Said Hotch

"But how did he find Garcia in the first place and why her?" Asked JJ to no one in particular

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea." said Reid looking as if he was trying to figure out a difficult puzzle.

"Care to share?" asked Prentiss

"No, not till I'm sure, but you know this guy must have been watching her awhile or he just knew a lot about the FBI."

"Prentiss and Morgan, go see if you can find any witnesses. Reid the other tech should be here soon see if you can figure out what Garcia was about to tell us before she was taken. JJ call the Tennessee police department and tell them that the unsub just took one of our own and that we'll probably stay here for awhile, and also see if you can get anything at all from the security tapes, Reid can help you. We meet in the conference room in two hours." Said Hotch He then turned and with one last look at Garcia's office left to talk with some more security guards.


	7. Chapter 7: Answers?

Disclaimer: It all belongs to CBS

Just so you know the tech mentioned is not Lynch. Lynch doesn't exist in this story.

Like always thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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Chapter Seven: Answers?

Cold. That was the first thing Garcia was aware of. As she slowly began to wake up she realized that she wasn't in a car anymore, but when she opened her eyes she wished she was. 'Crap' she thought as she looked around as much as she could.

She was sitting up in a chair, but not just any chair. It was metal and resembled an electric chair except the back was a bit higher and there were leg and feet holders so that it could recline back. Her hands were being held down by restraints attached to the arms and there was a metal restraint on the head board that was the perfect height to close around her neck and her feet were clasped down like her hands.

As she looked around she became sick at the sight and remembered the crime scene pictures she had scene. It was dark, but she could see somewhat because of a light a few feet away from her that was hanging from the ceiling. The room was very large with no windows and reminded her of the dungeons they always have in horror movies. Just behind her, in the corner of her eye, she could just make out a wooden staircase. On the wall opposite her there was a small wooden door, but what really scared her were the things around her. On all the walls that she could see there were torture machines and tools. On the wall to her left she could see a rack next to the corner that held whips with shards of metal, glass and rock. There were also knives of varies sizes, a club, pliers, a branding tool, a poker, and even needles and little glass medicine bottles. Not far from that on the same wall was a large wheel with restraints and spikes. On the wall to her right there was a cot that had spikes sticking up from it and chains. She was pretty sure that there were more instruments similar to these behind her that she couldn't see.

There was dried blood everywhere along with mold. She tried to wiggle out of the metal restraints but just caused herself more pain. She was still trying when she heard a door creek open from somewhere behind her.

Back at Quantico (about four hours since Garcia's abduction)…….

It had been about two hours since they split up, so Hotch, Morgan, Reid, JJ and Emily were beginning their briefing in the round table room.

"Alright what do we got?" Hotch began

"We were able to find an agent who thinks she may have seen the maintenance guy." responded Prentiss. "She says she was on the ground floor when she saw a janitor roll a garbage can out a back door. When she passed the door she saw an old car parked outside before the door closed."

"Did she see the license plate?"

"No, but she remembered what it looked like and we put an APB out on it." Said Morgan distractedly

"Ok good. I told local police to block the roads and search all vehicles." Said Hotch. He was about to ask another question when Reid spoke.

"It might be too late for that." He said looking down at his notes. When he looked up and saw the others staring at him and Morgan looking about ready to punch him he decided to elaborate "Time frame wise a mean. The unsub is traveling by car, so, assuming that he's going back to Tennessee, it will probably take him about six hours if he's going any were near where the original victims were found. It took us about two hours to get here by jet and another two hours looking for clues, so that means he's been traveling for about four hours, which means he's probably just in Tennessee since he most likely drove very carefully so that he wouldn't be noticed. In other words road blocks here probably won't do any good and since we don't know what route he took…."

"Ya, we got Reid." Interrupted Morgan

"Do we know what Garcia was about to tell us?" asked Hotch

"No, the tech is trying to backtrack, but no luck yet." Answered JJ

"He's defiantly not as fast or good as Garcia." Said Reid quietly

"Well we have to live with what we got." Said Hotch

"Reid and I did get him to run that address on the package that the unsub left. That address is for an apartment building that was turn down years ago. No one lives there anymore."

"Did the witness see what the man looked like or was he on any of the security tapes?"

"One of the cameras was able to get a shot of him, but it was only for a second and he was facing away from it." Said Reid

"The agent said she didn't really notice what the guy looked like, but she says he was wearing a janitor suite and a cap that was pulled down over his eyes. He was looking down so even if he wasn't wearing a hat she wouldn't have been able to see his face." Answered Prentiss

"But she did say that she noticed a tattoo on his right hand. She couldn't make it out very well but that it might have been a small sword or something. We already called that tech and told him to look it up." Added Morgan

"He seemed a little upset. He said something about there being thousands of people in the system with tattoos and not having enough information and that he was only one person so he had no idea how they could expect so much. Like Reid said, he's not Garcia." Said Prentiss

"So basically we have nothing." Stated Hotch

"So what are we going to do now?" asked JJ

"I think we got everything were going to get here, so lets get back to Tennessee. We can start looking for were he takes his victims and use our profile to narrow down suspects." Said Hotch

They were on the plane going over what they had and reading more files for clues when JJ turned to Reid who was sitting on the couch. "Hey Reid, you said that you may know how he knew about Garcia. Can you tell us now?"

"Well that reporter that was asking all those questions, but that Garcia said didn't work for any magazines, you said that he seemed like a reporter. Did he know the technical words and things like that?"

"Ya, he did."

"It's obvious that the unsub knows how to clean up after himself. A cop would know how to also and would know the terms so he could pass as a reporter. He'd probably isn't a cop anymore according to the profile Morgan came up with. And if he was it probably wouldn't be too hard for him to get into the local database to keep track of what we're doing and if he still has friends in the police department they could tell him about us. We were talking to Garcia a lot so the other cops know about her and probably wouldn't even think about telling an ex-cop about a case and how we get our information. Also he could go into the system and find out where Garcia was."

"Ok, but why Garcia? I mean JJ was closer and would have had the same affect to distract us and he would have had opportunities to get to her if he was posing as a reporter." Asked Morgan

"Because…" said Hotch thoughtfully "Remember the other day when that detective asked us how we got our information so fast. We were praising Garcia. We told him that she was one of the best out there and that she was very smart. He also saw how she acts so when the unsub found out that the FBI had a smart, funny, blonde tech that was just the right age he probably decided to go for her. Especially since she meant so much to us and we needed her so much. Not that JJ doesn't, but Garcia would be more of a challenge to get to and he would be able to make us watch as he took her. He was symbolically taking our heart and brain."

"How'd he know the FBI building so well though?" wondered Emily

"Connections" JJ answered

"And the Internet probably helped too. As Garcia would say, you can find anything on the internet if you look hard enough." Added Reid


	8. Chapter 8: So It Begins

Disclaimer: CBS owns everything

Thanks for the reviews! Oh and sorry this chapters a bit short.

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Chapter Eight: So It Begins

…_.She tried to wiggle out of the metal restraints but just caused herself more pain. She was still trying when she heard a door creek open from somewhere behind her._

Garcia heard a door quietly close. Her heart began to race and beat so hard she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. Footsteps echoed down the stairs. They were getting closer. Just as it sounded like the footsteps were right behind her, they stopped. Everything was quite except the sound of water dripping. She then felt a cold, rough, calloused hand stroking her head from behind her. Garcia closed her eyes and could hear the man breathing. Then the hand was gone. The man came around and stood in front of her wearing a pair of jeans and a black polo. He looked ragged and had black hair with streaks of gray through it, but his arms were well built and though not young it was obvious his still had strength. He looked down at her and smirked.

It was hard to see him, but Garcia could swear she'd seen him before. There was something familiar about him. Then it dawned on her 'the janitor outside my office' she thought as she stared at the man. She began putting things together and soon understood.

"Welcome to your new home darling." Said the man in a low, raspy voice

"You're….you're Joseph Rigswood aren't you." Garcia quietly stuttered out trying to distract him from whatever he was planning to do

"You know I am." He answered with smile and a glint in his eye "You know when I first heard of you I thought it would just be an easy way to get to your friends and since you're my type I figured it'd work, but I almost went with Agent Jareau instead. I'm glad I didn't now. I knew you were the right one when I learned more about you. And I was even more excited when I heard how those friends of yours took it. You're perfect."

At the look in his eyes, Garcia's mouth went dry and she thought she was going to be sick.

"So shall we get down to business Penelope?" Said Rigswood "Now what should we play with first?" He turned and started walking away, but stopped suddenly "Oh, and don't worry my dear you'll get to experience all of them."

He continued walking toward the right, stood for a second and then bent down. When he turned and started walking back Garcia's blood went cold. He was holding a large pair of cuff like things that had metal spikes sticking out all around the inside of them and also a knife.

"Now be a good girl and don't try to escape. I promise you it won't work." He unlocked her wrists and out of instinct Garcia started rubbing them. Before she could do anything else or try to resist, the man had put the cuffs on her. Blood immediately began to run down her wrists. She repressed the urge to scream in pain, but when Rigswood pressed the cuffs even deeper she let out a gasp before she could stop it.

He then unlocked her ankles and pulled her up out of the chair. "Walk" he said as he put the knife to her throat. He then guided her around so that she could see what had been behind her.

Right behind the chair there was a large open space and the walls had torture equipment lining them like the other walls she had seen, some looked homemade and others looked like they came straight from the movies. To the left were the stairs that lead to a door with several locks on it. Under the staircase was an old-fashioned porcelain bathtub and buckets surrounding it. Dried blood and dirt was everywhere and there were ropes, chains and hooks hanging from the ceiling and attached to the walls. Right in the middle of the large space was a large chain hook coming from the ceiling. Rigswood pushed Garcia over to this hook and forced her hands above her head so that he could hook her chains onto it. He then checked to make sure they were secured and then turned to walk over to the right wall.

Garcia's wrists and arms were burning with pain. Blood was running down her arms from the spikes and she wanted to cry, but refused to give him the satisfaction. She looked up just in time to see him reach the wall. He looked over at her with an evil grin and pulled a lever on the wall. The hook began to pull her upwards until her feet were just barely off the ground and the spikes went even deeper.

Garcia forgot about everything for a second. All she could focus on was the pain and though she tried to fight it tears started to run down her cheeks. When she found enough strength to open her eyes it was to find her nightmare walking toward her with one of the whips that she had seen on the wall in his hand, only this one had three tails and the shards.

'Come on focus on something, anything else.' She thought to herself. She closed her eyes in an attempt to think of something else but when the man ripped the back of her shirt and began to whip her she soon found it hard. 'Derek, please help me!' she cried in her head right before she was forced to gasp for air.

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	9. Chapter 9: Back to Tennesse

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, but CBS does.

Thanks for reviewing!!

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Chapter Nine: Back to Tennessee

The drive to the air port had been in silence. Each team member was lost in their own thoughts and just didn't feel like talking.

Now they were on the plane that would take them back to Tennessee and hopefully closer to finding Garcia. They had gone back over everything that they had at the start of the flight so now they were just doing their own thing. JJ, Reid, and Emily were sitting at the table quietly discussing where the unsub might have taken Garcia, Hotch was across from them looking out the window and occasionally putting his word in, and Morgan was on the couch just staring at the opposite wall and occasionally clenching his fist.

"The bodies were all found in Tennessee, so he's probably also in Tennessee that way he could have easy access." Said Reid

Reid and Prentiss began arguing this point when Hotch looked over, but before he could say anything he noticed JJ's face. She had a worried look, which wasn't unusual under these circumstances for any of them, but what really got his attention was the fact that she seemed to be watching Morgan as if he would explode any minute.

"JJ, what is it." He asked curiously

Reid and Prentiss then stopped talking and looked over at JJ too.

"Look at him." JJ stated "I know we're all worried about Garcia, I mean she's family, but Morgan…"

"He loves her." Stated Hotch calmly

The other three looked at Hotch with surprised faces and it seemed Reid was about to say something, when Hotch beat him to it.

"I've known for awhile now. I think even before they knew." He said with a slight smile as if he was remembering something

"I think it was pretty obvious to everyone, well to everyone except them apparently." Stated JJ

"Do you think he knows it?" wondered Emily looking over at Morgan

"One way to find out." Stated JJ as she got up and walked over to sit opposite of Morgan

Reid and Emily then followed and Hotch leaned forward slightly so that he could hear.

"Hey Derek." Greeted JJ

The use of his first name drew Morgan's attention and he noticed that JJ and Prentiss were in front of him, Reid was on the other side of the couch and Hotch even seemed to be looking at him.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked

"Do you love Garcia?" asked JJ getting right to the point

"What?" said Morgan a bit surprised

"Do… you… love… Garcia? Asked Emily slowly

"Ya, of course I do." He replied as if it were obvious

"That's not what they meant exactly." said Reid "Are you IN love with Garcia?"

At this Morgan looked at them all with a surprised look, but didn't say any thing

"We know you do Morgan. Whether you know it or not." Stated Hotch

"Yes. I'm in love with Penelope. I love her more than anything." He admitted "I just didn't realize it in time." He added more to himself than the others "I don't even know if she loves me.

"She does." Said Reid as if it were the most obvious thing in the world

"We have to find her. I don't know what I'd do without her." He said looking away distractedly "I need her." He said so softly that the others almost didn't hear him

"We will. She's family and we need her too." Said JJ with a comforting smile

The rest of the trip past in silence until they finally made it back to the field office.

"JJ, go ahead and set up a link with the BAU tech in case he comes up with something, we meet in the conference room in ten minutes" Hotch told them

Ten minutes later they were all sitting at a table in a conference room with the files, a local police officer, and a laptop.

"Ok, so it's been about seven hours since Garcia's abduction." Hotch said as he got up and began pacing the room while looking at some notes "The unsub tortures his victims for two days before he kills them and he's probably been torturing Garcia for about one to two hours, which means we only have…"

"About forty-five hours, if you take away the time he actually uses to kill the victim." continued Reid also looking down at a file.

"So what do you have?" asked the police officer

"We think he probably lives in the state and we even know who it is and how he did it." Answered JJ

"So if you know who it is why don't you just go after him?"

"Because we had the substitute tech check him out before we left and Joseph Rigswood doesn't have a file. Apparently he doesn't exist."

"Our tech, the one that was taken, was about to tell us about something she found on him when she was taken." Added Hotch

"Can't you just check her computer then?"

"The substitute tried, but Garcia's a bit… well… protective, so it's taking them longer." Answered JJ

"Garcia's an expert with computers, so it probably wont be any time soon." Said Reid

"Oh come on, no offense, but no one can be that good." Said the police officer with a smile

The team then looked at him as if he was insane and just as Morgan was about to get up and relieve some of his frustrations on the guy Hotch spoke.

"Agent Garcia is almost literally a genius when it comes to electronics, especially computers." Said Hotch protectively

"She's the best out there." Added Prentiss

"Um… right, sorry." Said the officer nervously since they were all looking at him angrily now and since they were obviously very protective

"So, what do we do now?" asked Prentiss

"I think we should visit the families of the victims and ask them if they've seen anyone resembling Rigswood and send his description out to see if anyone knows him" suggested Reid

"Ok, lets go." Said Hotch

"Hold it." said Morgan "We need to be looking for Garcia."

"We already put out an APB on the car, though he probably already got rid of it. We can't find Garcia until we find Rigswood. Garcia is important to all of us, but if we're going to get her back we have to treat this like any other case." Stated Hotch looking directly at Morgan

Morgan wanted to argue, to rush out of the building and search every square inch of the state if he had to, but he knew Hotch was right. If they were going to find Penelope they had to work together and stay calm.

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	10. Chapter 10: Where?

Disclaimer: I don't own it

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!

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Chapter Ten: Where?

Garcia was lying on her side doing her best to keep breathing, but it seemed to just get harder by the minute. She was cold, thirsty, tired, and covered in blood. After Rigswood and tortured her for what to her seemed like days, he had lead her to that little wooden door she had seen earlier, unlocked it and threw her in. The room, or actually closet, was extremely small. There was barely enough room for her to stretch out and it wasn't much wider than the door frame. The walls were like rock and had blood stains all over them and the ground. It was completely dark since there weren't any windows or, from what Garcia could see, any light at all.

Her head was spinning and she just wanted to go to sleep and wake up in her own nice, comfortable bed. When Rigswood had first put her in there she had tried to open the door but not only was the door securely locked in place it was also missing a handle and when she had tried to get up and look around she collapsed from the pain that radiated throughout her body.

She couldn't remember ever being in so much pain. While she was with Rigswood she had tried to think of something else, but her thoughts kept going back to the pain. At one point she was able to imagine her team in shinning armor coming to her rescue, but that too had been striped from her mind.

'It'll be alright.' She thought to herself 'Derek won't give up. They'll find me. I just have to hang in there a bit longer' but even as she told herself this, doubt was running through her head.

Just as she was about to cave into sleep she heard a creak and then heard the footsteps that she knew all too well now. 'No, please no.' she said in a whisper as tears began to run down her cheeks uncontrollably 'I can't take anymore'. Then she got an image of Derek in her head and knew she couldn't give up, or at least not yet. She would do her best to keep her nightmare from seeing her cry, though she knew sooner or later she wouldn't be able to stop it, she would try for Derek and her friends. 'I won't let you down, guys.' She said quietly with her eyes closed as she tried to stop the tears.

A second later she heard the sound of the locks being undone and the door was slung open. Rigswood stood with a smirk on his face and blood all over his shirt and pants. 'My blood' Garcia thought to herself as she looked up at him.

"So, shall we get back to having fun, my dear Penelope?" Said the voice that caused her to cringe

Ten Hours left……

The team was tired. They hadn't slept and the most they'd eaten since this whole thing began was a bagel or something from the employee's lounge. They were all basically living on caffeine and were on the edge of a nervous breakdown, even if they tried not to show it.

"Damn, I knew we needed Garcia for our cases, but we aren't getting anything done without her help." Stated Morgan at the conference table as he ran his hands over his face

"You don't know what you have till it's gone." Stated Reid looking at some files from next to Morgan

"We've gone over the files a thousands times, re-terviewed everyone. We know who the unsub is, how he does it, what his profile says, hell we even know what he looks like, but we can't find the son of a…" said Morgan before he was cut off by Hotch

"We've had less before." Hotch said

JJ looked at her watch for the hundredth time checking to see how much time they had left before… well she tried not to think about that.

"Well, how long now?" asked Morgan who decided he needed to know even if he really didn't want to

"About ten hours." She said gloomily

Morgan then abruptly stood, rubbed his face and started pacing with a look on his face that clearly told whoever got in his way that they'd be died

"Um…Hello…" said a voice

"Hey, it's the substitute tech" said Prentiss as she sat in front of the laptop that was at the end of the table

"What do got." Said Hotch sternly

"Well… I was trying to get into that file you said Agent Garcia had found and well I was finally able to get something, of course it seems she left it there on purpose, but it's not actually a single file it's…"

"Hey, we don't care, just tell us what it says." Said Emily before Morgan of Hotch could start yelling

"Alright, well how she found this I don't know, but anyways. Like I said Joseph Rigswood doesn't exist, but Anna Rigswood does, or did I should say. It says here that Anna Rigswood was Joseph Marino's mother. Mrs. Rigswood married Kevin Marino when Joseph was nine, so they both took Marino's name. Mr. and Mrs. Marino were both died by the time Joseph was nineteen. Mrs. Marino died first apparently."

"Ok, so, that just proves we got the right guy for the profile. It doesn't help us find Garcia" said JJ

"Well, actually miss, that's not all Agent Garcia found. Apparently Kevin Marino had owned a cabin in the mountains. It's still in his name and the only other thing near it is an old abandoned factory a few miles away."

"That must be it. That's gotta be were he takes them and why we didn't find it. He took his mother's name, but kept his stepfather's cabin." Said Reid excitedly

"Where?" was the only thing Hotch said to the tech

"Ok, got a pen?"

"Just send it to our PDAs." Said JJ

"Oh…Um right, sure."

"Lets go" Said Hotch as Morgan was already heading out the door

"I called local police and gave them the address. We might need some help finding this place." Said JJ after she hung up her cell. The team was in the SUV driving as fast as possible.

"How long will it take us to get there Reid?" Asked Hotch from the backseat with Emily and JJ

"It's actually pretty far away so, about four to five hours."

At that Morgan began to drive even faster and drove in and out of cars. The others didn't even seem to notice; actually they were egging him on.

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	11. Chapter 11: The Search

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

Like always,thanks to everyone who reviewed!! Hope you like this chapter

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Chapter Eleven: The Search

With Morgan driving it only took them a little over three hours to get up the mountain and through the woods. The directions lead them straight to a clearing and on the edge was an old cabin. There wasn't a car of any kind, in fact it seemed empty. Morgan wanted to charge right in, but knew it would be safer for Penelope if they went together. So as a team they moved toward the cabin as some police officers went around back. Morgan kicked open the door and they spread out to clear the room. Nothing. They moved on through the rest of the house, but no one was there.

Twenty minutes later they were all gathered outside.

"I can't believe it. She's not here. Damn it!" said Morgan angrily as he kicked a rock as hard as possible

"What about basements, attics, any hidden rooms?" asked JJ in case the others had found something she hadn't

"No, it was gone over with a comb and the cops are tearing the place up just in case, but there's nothing." Said Emily tiredly

"If she's not here then where the hell is he holding her?" asked Morgan to no one in particular

Hotch was just about to call off the search of the house when he noticed Reid had wondered over to the edge of the woods and was bending down. He started over and the others then noticed Reid too and followed.

"What's up Reid" asked Morgan trying to contain his anger

Reid then stood back up and showed them what he had found. It was a piece of clothe.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Emily

"I think it's the clothe he used to drug Garcia." Answered Reid

"Look, a little further on past these trees you can see a path. It looks big enough for a car" said Morgan who had gone closer to the trees.

"Should we follow it?" asked Prentiss

"Doesn't look like we have much of a chose." Said JJ "But were going to have to walk some of the way, the SUV wont go through there."

"We'll tell the police to meet us a little further and we'll start following the path." Said Hotch

"We have to hurry; Garcia only has a few hours left." Said Prentiss

So the team started to make their way to the little path and when they got there they found tire tracks. A few minutes after they had started to follow the path a police car met up with them and they continued to follow the tracks that would hopefully lead them to Penelope.

Rigswood had just thrown her back into the cell, or her 'room' as he liked to call it, and she was about ready to give up. At this point Garcia was hopping he'd just kill her, it'd probably be a whole lot less painful.

She couldn't hold it back anymore. She cried. Tears mixed with blood, dirt, and sweat ran down her cheeks as fire exploded all over her body at the simple action of crying.

She had tried to get away once during their second 'session'. Rigswood had left for a minute and had left the door at the top of the stairs slightly ajar because he thought she was unconscious. She basically had to crawl, but she finally made it to the top of the stairs. She looked through the door and didn't see him, so she crept out trying not to move the heavy door to much. She had been so close. Just as she was about five feet from the door he came up behind her. She tried to fight, but he had forced a chain around her neck and pain exploded everywhere. Her vision became fuzzy and she didn't even realize he was dragging her back down the stairs, until he pushed her down on her knees in front of that old porcelain tub. He put spiked chains on her wrists and tied them behind her back. He had then removed the chain around her neck and before she could even take a good breathe he forced her head into the bathtub that was filled with water. Just as some water got in her lungs he pulled her head up by her hair. She coughed trying to get the water out and he forced her head back underwater. She tried to come back up but he was too strong and she was in too much pain. He had repeated that a few times and then went back to 'introducing' her to his toys as if nothing had happened.

But that was hours ago. Now she was in even more pain than she thought possible. Rigswood had used every single one of his 'toys' on her. She was slowly dieing and she knew it. She also knew she didn't have much longer before he cut her hand off and then killed her. She didn't like to admit it, but she was secretly looking forward to death. Maybe then the pain would go away.

But she couldn't, wouldn't, give up faith in her friends, not yet. They were her family. She knew they wouldn't give up. The question was would they get there in time.

She knew that she had imagined it, but there had been a time, while Rigswood was stripping her to put a rag on her, that she had heard a voice. But not just any voice, Derek's. It sounded far away, but she knew it was him. He had said not to give up. She then realized that it hadn't been an actual voice, but a memory. She had remembered when he said that while Reid had been kidnapped and they were watching him on the computer and she knew that if he could see her he would say the same thing.

So she wouldn't give up. Instead she'd force herself to stay alive just a little longer and she'd fight. It may not help, but at least she could say she tried.

She was so tired she just wanted to go to sleep. She closed her eyes and the last thing she saw before being awakened by Rigswood again, was her team smiling and laughing.

They were getting closer, he could feel. 'I'm coming baby girl. And when I get there that son of a bitch well regret the day he laid eyes on my angel.' Morgan thought as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel trying to pretend it was Rigswood. He then got a picture of what Rigswood had done to the other women and when he saw them turn into Penelope he sped up so fast Reid was slammed back against the seat next to him.

'God, will this ever be over?' Garcia thought to herself as she fell, turned to her side and started coughing up blood for what seemed like the hundredth time. She was running out of time and even if her team did find her soon it may be too late. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that if she fell asleep she probably wouldn't wake back up.

"Don't worry, my love, it'll be over soon." Rigswood said with a smile as he came up from behind her and petted her hair that was filled with blood and dirt.

His touch sent pain shooting through her body and she thought she was going to throw up. She was so tired, but she couldn't sleep, at least not yet.

It had only taken them a little over an hour find Rigswood's car, thanks to Morgan's driving. They got out of their cars, guns raised, and went toward Rigswood's car. It was empty.

"Hey, over here!" JJ yelled from a few feet away

The team ran over to her. Just behind a few trees they could see an old, two story factory that looked like it had been deserted for years.

"That must be the old factory the tech was talking about." Prentiss said

"Garcia has to be in there. It would give him more room and better security." Reid said

"Alright, let's go."

Hotch sent some of the police officers around back and some to stand watch outside in case Rigswood slipped through them some how.

"Remember, as much as I'm sure none of us want to, we need to at least try to Rigswood alive." Hotch said looking directly at Morgan who looked at him but didn't say anything

"Come on, let's get our tech back." Hotch said and he and the others began moving forward.

At the moment Rigswood had her chained to a giant, spiked wheel like thing. That's when she heard it, a loud boom from somewhere far away. Rigswood stopped and froze. The smile on his face fell and he looked up toward the stairs and then suddenly lounged forward. Garcia thought he was going to kill her, but instead he pulled her off the wheel and dragged her toward the wooden door that led to her 'room'. He threw her in, closed the door, and locked it. She then heard his footsteps on the stairs and the metal door snap shut. She was in complete darkness again. Her eyes began to drift shut and she was becoming increasingly dizzy and lightheaded. 'No' she thought to herself 'I have to stay awake'. But it was becoming harder to even think and the quite dark was calling her.

The team finally reached the door. Hotch and Reid stood on either side as Morgan stood in front. Hotch nodded and Morgan kicked the door wide open. It flew back and hit the wall so hard it made an echoing boom. They then rushed in and cleared the room.

There were cobwebs and dust everywhere. They continued to move forward as Hotch sent the police officers that were with them to check other rooms. It was extremely quite. Then finally they found a room with a light coming from under the door.

Morgan didn't even wait to be told, he kicked the door in and the team flooded in.

"This must be were he sleeps." Reid stated

The room was dimly lit and had a single cot, a microwave, a small mini refrigerator, and a chest with clothes in it. But there wasn't anyone there.

"Wait, did you hear that?" JJ asked

They all listened and that time they all heard it. Footsteps. They left the room and turned the corner and there was Rigswood, gun in hand.

"Freeze!" Hotch yelled pointing his gun at Rigswood's forehead

"You're surrounded. There are still more cops coming. Give up and we won't shoot you." Prentiss said angrily

Morgan had remained silent until he noticed the man's hands and clothes were covered in blood. 'Penelope' he thought. He couldn't take it anymore; he ran forward, completely surprising Rigswood. Before Rigswood could even put a hand up, Morgan had the gun out of his hand and him lying flat on his back. Morgan relished all his pent up anger in just a few punches and still kept going.

The others then came forward, a bit slower than they could have, and pulled him off. Reid and JJ arrested Rigswood while Hotch and Emily used all their strength to hold Morgan back.

"Where is she!" Hotch almost yelled once Reid and JJ had Rigswood standing. His face was covered in blood and a bruise was already forming on his eye. Even with Morgan glaring at him and the others looking like they wished it could have been them who beet Rigswood up, he still just stood there and smirked.

Morgan came foreward and grabbed Rigswood's shirt. "I'm only going to ask you this one time, where is Penelope?!" he said almost snarling

Rigswood continued to just stand there and smirk. Morgan pulled his hand back and was about to finish what he started but Hotch interrupted him.

"Take him outside and watch him closely." Hotch said to the officers who Morgan hadn't even noticed come in.

"Even if you find her, it may be too late." Rigswood said as they took him away. He stopped before continuing. "And besides even if she does live she'll never be able to forget me. I'll haunt her for the rest of her life. I'll never be gone, at least not for her." He said smiling. The officers then continued to take him outside so that the BAU team wouldn't kill the man were he stood.

"We're going to split up and search the whole place. She's here somewhere." Ordered Hotch

They had been through the entire place with help from the police officers, but they still hadn't found a clue to where Rigswood was holding Garcia. The BAU team was on the ground floor in a small room that looked like an old den. They were trying to think were she could be when Hotch noticed something. In front of a bookcase there were scuff marks and a single drop of dried blood.

"She must be near by." JJ said "Maybe a trapdoor or something."

Reid then walked over and examined the bookcase. "I think there's a door behind here." He stated a bit surprised

"Move Reid." Morgan said as he got a grip on the bookcase and pulled. It moved easily and sure enough there was an iron door.

"My turn." Prentiss said as she too came forward and stated to pick the lock with a pin she found on a near by table. But the lock was rigged so it wouldn't open. "Alright, well let's try this." She said pulling out her gun and shooting the lock.

It was unlocked and Morgan pushed the door open, gun drawn. When he and the others looked in they froze. At the bottom of the staircase was all sorts of torture equipment, blood, and even a couple of rats, but no Garcia. They began to make their way down the stair with no idea that Garcia was so close to them.

They reached the bottom and looked around. What they saw made them want to puck knowing that Garcia had been subjected to it.

"Guys, look" Reid said pointing to a small wooden door with locks on it.

Hotch held his gun up, pointed it directly at the lock and fired. The lock fell off and almost as one the team yanked the door open. When they saw what was inside their blood ran cold.

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	12. Chapter 12: Reunited

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, but wouldn't it be nice…

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed!!

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Chapter Twelve: Reunited

…_The lock fell off and almost as one the team yanked the door open. When they saw what was inside their blood ran cold._

The image in front of them was sure to be embedded into their minds forever. As soon as they saw Garcia they froze as if they had been paralyzed. There was absolute silence as they looked at their friend.

Garcia was crunched up and lying on her side facing the wall. Her usual colorful clothing had been replaced. She was now wearing a dirty, blood stained rag that looked like a large gray pillow case with wholes. It ended just above her knee so the team could easily see that her legs were torn to pieces and most defiantly broken. Her arms were the same and though they couldn't see her face very well, they were sure it was just as bad. Her hair was matted with blood, dirt, and who knew what else. There was a large pool of blood under her and dried blood was everywhere. But what scared them the most was that she didn't seem to be breathing.

Though it seemed like minutes had passed it was only a few seconds before the team took action. It wasn't a very big room so Morgan went in by himself and carefully lifted Garcia up to carry her out while JJ called the police outside and told them to get an ambulance immediately. Morgan brought her out of the room but didn't want to put her down, especially not in the same place she'd obviously been tortured in. Hotch seemed to understand because he removed his jacket that he was wearing under the bullet proof vest and spread it out on the ground right over a small puddle of blood. Morgan looked at him and, though he still didn't want to release Penelope, he knew it was for her own good so he gently placed her on the jacket. It was then that he got a good look at her and when he did he had the sudden urge to go and personally kill the guy that hurt his baby girl so badly. But he restrained himself only because he didn't want to leave Garcia's side. The others filed around Garcia too and bent down with their mouths open in shock.

What had looked bad in the dark closet now looked a whole lot worse and they could see things they hadn't before which made it even worse. Morgan checked her pulse, but didn't find one. 'Please don't be died.' He thought to himself 'There are so many things I have to tell you. How could I have been so stupid?'

He still didn't feel a pulse so he was going to check her wrist for one but paused when he saw them. It was hard to distinguish due to blood being everywhere, but he could see that she barley had any skin left on her wrists and there were actual wholes in them and her hands. He and the others had been feeling sick to their stomachs, but now they actually thought they would throw up any second. JJ closed her eyes while Prentiss covered her mouth and Reid's mouth was so far open his lower jaw was on the verge of falling off. When Morgan reached down to feel for a pulse he too had to close his eyes and even Hotch had to look away. But there was still nothing, so he went back to her neck and after a few seconds he found it. It wasn't much, he wasn't even sure he had felt it at first, when he felt it a second time his heart started beating faster.

"I got it!" He said with a smile "She's alive!"

At that the others visibly relaxed, but only slightly. Now they had to keep her alive until the ambulance got there.

"We should try to wake her up." Reid suggested after swallowing hard and wetting his lips from were they had gone dry

The whole team was gathered around Garcia, but Morgan was the only one touching her because it was hard to tell were an actual injury was and they didn't want to cause any more harm. So Morgan gently stroked her matted hair while quietly begging her to up.

"Come on gorgeous, wake up and show me those eyes of yours." Morgan said soothingly. But he wasn't just saying it to wake her up. He was secretly dieing to see the eyes that had kept him sane for so long and comforted him even during the worst conditions. He needed to know that she was still with him.

"Please Penelope, you can do it." JJ tried as a tear ran down her cheek and she didn't even try to stop it.

"Fight Garcia, come on wake up… Please?" Reid said as his eyes also started to become red with unshed tears

"Garcia, I order you to wake up right now." Hotch said sternly. Sensing the others looking at him, he looked up. "Thought I might as well give it a try." Hotch said as JJ's cell began to ring.

"The ambulance should be here in a few minutes Agent Jareau." An officer said

"Ok thanks; send them down to the basement. The entrance is in the den by the bookcase." JJ said and then turned her attention back to her friend

"Garcia…Penelope, you need to wake up. Come on, do it for us princess." Morgan tried again but there was still no response.

They were just about ready to give up trying to wake her up and focus on her injuries when she made a slight noise. It was so quite they thought they'd imagined it at first, but then she groaned slightly and they all smiled as she began to open her eyes. Her eyelids were only raised a little, not even enough for them to see her eyes, but at least it was something.

When Garcia felt a hand stroking her head she froze thinking it was Rigswood again. Her heart sped up and she began to shake slightly. When she heard a familiar voice she thought she was hearing things until he spoke a second time.

"Penelope, it's us. It's ok your safe now." Morgan said soothingly when he saw her begin to shake

"An ambulance will be here soon Garcia, just hold on." Hotch said

"Everything's going to be ok baby girl. Rigswood is gone; he can't hurt you anymore, I promise." Morgan said

It was then that Garcia knew it was real. She tried to smile, but was just too tired and in too much pain. Her eyelids began to droop again and the others noticed.

"No Garcia, you have to stay awake." Emily said

"Just for a bit longer, ok princess. Then you can sleep." Morgan said. He then accidentally touched her cheek and she visibly flinched. "I'm sorry Penelope." He said worriedly as he quickly removed his hand.

Garcia missed the lack of warmth from Morgan's hand so she slowly held her own hand up just enough to get his attention.

The others didn't know what she was doing when they saw Garcia raise her hand shakily, but then understood when Morgan put his hand on hers and she gripped his hand lightly as if it were the one thing keeping her alive.

And that's how the EMTs found them. The team, especially Morgan, had spots of blood all over them and were surrounding their friend as if protecting her from the world.

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	13. Chapter 13: The Hospital

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

As always thinks to everyone who reviewed. You guys are great!!

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Chapter Thirteen: The Hospital

Everyone on the team had wanted to go on the ambulance with Garcia, but the EMTs said it would be too dangerous for even one of them to go since they would be going down a mountain. So they drove back to Rigswood's cabin to get the SUV and Morgan drove, or in Reid's opinion flew, down the mountain. Thanks to Reid's knowledge of the area, from were he had study the maps, they were able to take a short cut. It only took Morgan thirty minutes to get off the mountain and another ten to reach the hospital. The car ride was silent, each lost in their own thought.

Once there Morgan jumped out of the car and without even waiting for the others to get out, he ran into the hospital. The others followed, but they lost him when he took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. If circumstances weren't so depressing they probably would have laughed when they got to the ER and found Morgan showing his badge and practically yelling at the desk nurse.

"What's wrong Morgan?" Hotch asked as he approached

"They took Garcia back there and she won't let me go back." He said angrily pointing to the nurse who had her arms crossed

"I've been trying to explain to your friend here that doctors and nurses are the only people allowed in the operating room." The old graying nurse said

"Morgan go sit down." Hotch said sternly

"Hotch…"

"Now Morgan." Hotch interrupted with a pointed look

So Morgan reluctantly head for the waiting room followed by Reid and Emily

"Can you keep us updated please?" JJ asked showing her badge and smiling politely at he nurse

"Of course" she said

"I apologize for Agent Morgan's behavior. The woman we're here for means a lot to all of us." Hotch said to the nurse after JJ left

"I understand Agent Hotchner. But rules are rules."

"Thank you." He responded before turning and following the others into the waiting room

An hour later they were still waiting and growing more worried by the minute. Just as Morgan got up to start passing again a police officer came in.

"Excuse me, Agent Hotchner?" the officer asked

"Yes?" Hotch said getting up from were he had been sitting by the window

"Joseph Rigswood had been taken to the local prison. Also, we found pictures and videos of all the victims in his cabin." The officer said "He's defiantly the guy."

"Huh, no kidding." Morgan said sarcastically. Hotch threw him a look and he went to look out the window.

"Thank you for the update." Hotch said looking back at the officer

"No sir, thank you. That guy would probably still be out there if you hadn't come."

The officer then shook hands with everyone, except Morgan who stayed by the window, and left.

It was another two hours before the old nurse came in.

"Excuse me?" she said trying to get their attention "Ms. Garcia well be taken to the ICU in just a few minutes and the doctor will be coming to speak with you soon."

"Thank you." JJ said

The nurse smiled and left leaving the team to their own thoughts once again.

About ten minutes later a middle aged man wearing scrubs came into the waiting room. The team was the only ones there so they figured he was Penelope's doctor.

Reid was the first to him, followed by Morgan and soon they were all gathered around the doctor.

"I take it all of you are here for Penelope Garcia?" he stated more than asked with a slight frown

"Yes." Hotch said when it seemed the others had lost the ability to talk. Though he had to admit he didn't feel much like talking either.

The man let out a sigh before opening the chart he was holding. He looked up at the team and began.

"Let me just begin by saying I have never seen someone with so many injuries in my entire career." He said and then closed the chart and crossed his arms in front of him. "Quite frankly it's a miracle that Ms. Garcia is even alive. If it's alright with you I'll just give a summery of her injuries."

"That'll be fine." Emily said trying to get him to hurry up

"Well, she has a major concussion; in fact her skull was cracked open, her ribs are broken, she has several lacerations everywhere, her legs are broken and her right ankle is sprained, her left shoulder was completely out of socket and her arm was broken, almost every bone in her right hand was broken, she had obvious whip marks on her back, and she had pieces of glass embedded in her skin. Also, she has stab wounds, punctured and bruised organs, her wrists and back have almost no skin left on them, she has some burns, water in her lungs, her jaw was busted, and of course bruising. She's lost a lot of blood, was dehydrated, and had blood poisoning in her leg. That's the short version. I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear the long version." He said sadly

The team was speechless. They all had the same question on their minds, but no one wanted to ask. Finally JJ stepped forward.

"Were there any signs of…?" JJ trailed off not sure how to put it when it came to her friend

"If you're asking what I think you are, then yes, I'm afraid she was raped. I didn't need testing to prove that."

Morgan was clenching his fists and desperately wanted to find Rigswood and do to him what he did to Penelope, but he knew he couldn't leave her.

"Is she going to be alright?" Emily asked quietly

"The next twenty-four hours are going to be crucial. She's not breathing on her own at the moment. If she lives through it, then she should be ok as long as she wakes up."

"If she wakes up?" Reid asked worriedly

"It doesn't look like she's going to be waking up anytime soon. As long as she makes it through the next couple of days and wakes up soon, we should be able to heal her wounds and her bones should heal just fine as long as she stays off them, but we'll deal with that when we get there."

"Can we see her now?" Morgan asked distractedly

"I'll take you to her. Now I suggest you talk to her since she's basically in a coma, it may help." The doctor said and started leading the way to the ICU and Garcia's room.

The team followed quietly not talking or even looking were they were going until the doctor stopped outside Garcia's room.

"If you need anything, the nurses have my number and I'll be stopping in once and awhile." He said with a sad smile

"Thank you doctor." Hotch said shaking the man's hand

The doctor left and Morgan slowly opened the door. When they stepped in the room and closed the door they just watched her for awhile.

Her head was bandaged along with her neck and the side of her face. Her left shoulder was padded and her arm in a sling, her right hand had a cast on it and there was a bandage from her elbow up her arm. Both of her legs were in a cast under the white hospital blankets. She had visible cuts and bruises everywhere and tubes ran all over the place. Her left eye was turning from purple to black and her right eye was blood red and severely swollen. The machine by the wall was the only thing keeping her breathing and she was extremely pale. None of them had ever seen her so still and quite.

The team gathered around her and got themselves ready for a long night.

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	14. Chapter 14: Fight

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

Thanks for the reviews!!

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Chapter Fourteen: Fight

The team was trying to stay awake as long as they could just watching Garcia, hoping she'd wake up and everything would go back to normal. But they all knew things weren't going to be normal any time soon.

About an hour after they'd been allowed into Garcia's room, JJ couldn't hold it back anymore. She started crying silently trying not to get the others attention. But Reid noticed. He got up from his chair, walked over to JJ and sat in the vacant chair next to her. JJ was looking down trying not to notice Reid watching her, when he put his hand on hers. She looked up and that's when she saw his red eyes and a trail of water from his eye to his chin from where he had let a tear escape. She looked around and noticed that he wasn't the only one on the verge of tears. Hotch was bent over with his elbows sitting on his knees while he rubbed his face, Emily was staring at the machine that was breathing for Garcia, chewing her nails and occasionally wiping her eye, and Morgan was sitting on Garcia's right side, leaning forward, and staring straight at Garcia with a worried look on his face that she'd never seen before.

Every half hour or so a nurse would come by to check Garcia's stats and make sure there was enough blood going into her veins. Each time she came in she would smile sadly at them and ask if there was anything they needed. And each time they just shook their heads.

After about two hours the past couple of days started to catch up with them. When they had been close to finding Penelope they'd forgotten all about the lack of sleep they had, but now they were finding it hard to keep their eyes open. So they each fell asleep whether they wanted to or not.

A few hours later they all woke up at the same time. At first they didn't know what had woken them up until they noticed the lack of beeping in the room. They looked over and sure enough Garcia's heart monitor was flat lining. There was a constant buzz in the air and before they could do anything nurses were rushing in the room with a crash cart.

They were so shocked they didn't even notice when a couple of nurses took them outside the room. They were brought back by the snapping of the door as it shut. Morgan then tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge so he proceeded to knock, or actually hit and kick the door. Hotch went over and placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Let them do their job." He said quietly

"I need to be in there Hotch." He yelled angrily. Hotch just looked back at him "I can't leave her, not now." He said a bit more quietly

"I understand Morgan. Believe I do, if I didn't think it would make things worse I'd be helping you kick down the door. But right now we'd just get in the way." Hotch said trying to remain calm for his team

Hotch stepped aside and hesitantly Morgan walked over and set in a chair by the wall.

After what felt like an eternity a nurse opened Garcia's door. The team quickly moved forward just as the rest of the nurses and Penelope's doctor stepped out of the room closing the door behind them.

When the doctor saw them he stopped and they noticed he looked older, tired and sad.

"Is she…" Reid began

"She's alive." The doctor said with a sigh "It was close. She was technically died for almost a minute and then she kept going in and out. We've managed to stabilize her for the time being."

"But…" Hotch said when he stopped and looked down

"As I've said the next twenty-four hours is crucial. I highly suggest you talk to her now, but be positive, there is a possibility she can hear you. It's up to her if she makes it. But on the other hand even if she fights, she still may not make it." He said looking even more depressed.

With that he nodded goodbye and left. Slowly the team made their way to Garcia's room. When they opened the door and went in she looked exactly the same as when they left.

After a few minutes of silence Hotch decided he better do something.

"I think it would be a good idea to take the doctor's advice and talk to Garcia." He said looking around at his team "Morgan you can go first while the rest of us go to the cafeteria, then will keep taking turns until we've each had a chance."

Everyone silently agreed and with one more look at Garcia they left Morgan alone with Penelope.

Morgan carefully took Garcia's casted hand in his. For a while he just watched her. He couldn't stand the thought of losing her. I tear pooled to his eye but he wiped it away.

"Penelope, you got to wake up. You have to fight. If I lose you I don't know what I'll do. I need you baby girl, more than anything." He paused and looked down at her hand before continuing "I was so stupid." He said with a dry laugh "I should have told you how much you mean to me a long time ago, but I guess I just didn't believe it. You see I never thought I'd find someone like you. You're absolutely perfect." He looked back at her face and took a breath before saying what he wished he'd said before "I love you Penelope. Let me rephrase that." He said with a slight laugh "I'm IN love with you." He said stressing the 'in'. "Sweetness, please, fight this. You can do it. You're a lot stronger than you let us think. I know that." Morgan said. He watched her for another minute praying her eyes would open and he could smile again.

It hadn't seemed like it had been as long as it had when JJ quietly knocked on the door and opened it. Morgan looked up still holding Penelope's hand not wanting to loose contact.

"It's been almost thirty minutes." She said as she came further in glancing at Penelope

Morgan didn't want to leave but knew the others wanted their turn. So he stood up, brushed some hair out of Penelope's face, and turned to leave. When he got to the door he turned back.

"If anything happens…"

"Don't worry Morgan. You'll be the first person I call." JJ said quietly trying to give him a reassuring smile but finding it difficult

Then with one last look at Garcia he left the room silently closing the door behind him. For a minute he just stood outside leaning against the door with his eyes closed. He then started to head down to the cafeteria where the others were.

JJ wasn't sure what to say. There were plenty of things she wanted to say, but knew if she started talking then she'd cry and she didn't want Garcia to hear her cry. If she could hear her at all that is. So she took a minute to breath. She closed her eyes and fought back the tears. When she opened her eyes she noticed Garcia looked even paler then when the team had left for the cafeteria.

"Hey, Pen." She began a bit shakily but at least not crying "You know you better wake up soon before Morgan has a stroke." She said with a forced laugh. She looked down at her hands before looking back up and continuing. "You have no idea how much you mean to all of us Garcia. You're family and we need you and I don't just mean with work either. You make us smile and laugh even when we don't feel like it. Whenever we need someone to listen you're there, no matter how late. You're what keeps us sane, basically." She said with a laugh. She stopped for a minute to get her nerves under control before looking back at Garcia. When she looked down and saw her friend so badly beaten and broken she almost lost it. Suddenly a rage came over her and she desperately wanted to go and personally beat up Rigswood, preferably to death. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm down. "You know, you're like my sister Pen. You have to fight this. You have to wake up. Please." Seeing Garcia and realizing she was so close to dieing she couldn't hold it back. Tears started rolling down her cheeks but she covered her mouth. Just at that time there was a knock on the door and Reid popped his head in.

"Umm… hi JJ." Reid said a bit nervously seeing JJ with tears running down her face "It's…um…my turn, but if you need another second I can…"

"No, it's ok." JJ said with a watery smile as she wiped some tears away. She stood up and wanted to lean down to kiss Garcia's forehead but stopped when she saw the many bandages, cuts, and bruises. So she turned and headed for the door. When she reached Reid she looked back once more before placing a comforting hand on his arm and leaving to join the others.

Reid went over and sat in the chair JJ had just vacated. He looked down at his friend and couldn't remember her ever looking so fragile. Every time he looked at her his stomach lurched. He'd read the files along with the others so he had a pretty good idea what Rigswood had done to her. When he looked at her he could see the SOB torturing her and remembered the conditions they found her in. That alone made him want to throw up.

"Hey, Garcia." He began holding back the tears that were welling up. "You know statistically…" he started but then imagined Garcia rolling her eyes and laughing so decided it wasn't the time. "I know I haven't told you this, and I should have, but you're the closest thing to a sister I have. When I first started to work with the BAU I was feeling a bit… alone, but it's like you took care of me when no one else cared. I don't know how you do it, but you always know what to say and when to say it." He said with a slight laugh. "And you know, I just realized, you help keep us sane, but you never really ask for anything in return and we never try to help you like that. I mean we ask you if you're alright after you've seen or heard something bad but that's it. If it had been us than you would have taken us out or forced us to talk or something like that. There's not many people who would willingly listen to us talk about that kind of stuff and not expect anything back." He stopped for a minute and looked at his watch. "Well I guess Emily will be in here soon. Before she gets here I just want to say that you need to beat this. If something happened to you then who would I be able to tell everything to? You're one of my best friends Garcia and I swear I'll never take you for granted again." Just as he said this Emily knocked and opened the door. He stood up and looked at Garcia before turning and leaving trying not to let Emily see his red eyes. But he didn't have to worry about Emily seeing his eyes. She was completely focused on Garcia.

JJ was right, she looks even worse than before. "Garcia, you have to come back to us." She said as she sat down. "You're defiantly going to have your work cut out for when you wake up." She said with a little laugh "I mean you should see Morgan. At first he wouldn't stay still and now he's sitting with his arms crossed not moving an inch and just staring at random objects. Oh and Hotch. He's trying to act calm but every few minutes he's getting up to refill his already full coffee cup and every time a door opens he looks over to see who it is." She looked down and when she saw Garcia she had to look at the ceiling. "You know we would have found you a lot sooner if you'd been there to help. I mean that substitute tech was awful, or at least compared to you. I know you've probably already heard this from the others, but we need you. A lot. So please, Garcia, I'm begging you. Fight. We all know how stubborn you can be and you're defiantly not weak. I mean look at what you have to do at work all the time. You see more than we do sometimes. Not to mention the fact that you not only lived through Rigswood you also fought him. When they were taking him away I noticed the scratches and bruises you gave him." She stopped again and took a deep breath. "You helped make me feel welcomed when I came and you're my friend. You can do this, I know for a fact you can make it. Just…you have to try." A couple of minutes went by as Emily just talked about some fun times they'd had before there was a knock on the door.

Hotch sat in the chair for a couple of minutes before beginning. It had only been two hours since he'd seen her but she looked paler. She was defiantly getting worse instead of better.

"Garcia, I absolutely do not, under any conditions, give you permission to die." He said but then laughed "Knowing you that probably wouldn't have worked if you were awake." He could imagine Garcia crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow at him. "You mean a lot to this team Garcia." He said getting serious "We wouldn't be as good as we are without you. I know you do more for us than we even realize and that you'd sacrifice almost anything to help us. We're a family, though a slightly odd family as you pointed out to me once. You're what keeps us together and brings some light into our sometimes very depressing job. We need you, all of us need you. This team will fall apart without you. You know you say that you don't know anything about psychology or that kind of thing, yet you use it on us all the time. When ever I start to question why I do this all I have to do is hear you or see you and it becomes obvious. You remind me that there are still innocent, good, caring people in the world, but that there are others who want to hurt them. And I can't let that happen. And it's not just me you remind it's the whole team. I can tell on their faces when they start questioning or getting depressed and all it takes is one call from you and they're good as new. Everyone on this team, including myself, needs you. We're very dependant on you. So I highly suggest you wake up. I realize it's a bit selfish on our parts, but we need you to wake up and get through this. We'll be here when you wake up, whether you want us to be or not. When this is over you're going to be sick of us." He said with a slight smile.

He looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed he'd been there for a little over thirty minutes. It hadn't felt that long. "Well Garcia, I better go get the others. Morgan's probably about ready to kill me for going over my half hour." So he got up and slowly walked over to the door, but before he turned the handle he looked back. "You need to fight Garcia, for us." He then opened the door and walked out. And sure enough just as he was closing the door he noticed Morgan walking toward him with the others not far behind.

The team spent the next few hours talking to Garcia as a group. They told her about how they finally caught Rigswood, how they couldn't have done it if she hadn't left them the file, how they would always be there no matter what, and sometimes they just reminisced. They never mentioned death or what she had gone through; instead they talked about what they were going to do when they all got home. They kept this up the rest of the day, never once leaving her side.

As they sat and talked to her they noticed that she was getting even paler, which they didn't think was possible, and the beeping of her heart monitor was getting slower. But no one said anything about it. They just looked at one another occasionally with sad looks and tears in their eyes. She was dying and they all knew it.

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	15. Chapter 15: Dying

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

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Chapter Fifteen: Dying

It had been about fourteen hours since the doctor first told them Garcia might not live through the twenty-four hours. They only had ten more hour to go and maybe then they could breath. Of course then they'd have to wait for her to wake up. During those fourteen hours, which felt more like days, Garcia had gone into cardiac arrest and had begun to slip away. She had been technically died for almost a minute and in that minute it felt like a piece of each of them had died too. And things were getting worse.

About an hours ago the team had stopped talking and was know just watching there friend. It was almost completely silent except for the hum of the many machines and the beeping of Garcia's heart monitor which was the only indication that she was alive. It was Morgan who finally broke the silence.

"Come on, baby girl, just a few more hours. Hang in there Princess." He said taking her hand the best his could

Five minutes later the doctor came in looking depressed. He walked over to Garcia and checked her machines and tubes. No one said anything. On his way out he shook his head and started writing in on his chart. It wasn't even two minutes later when Garcia flat lined.

The team was up in a second and gathered around her. When the nurses came rushing in with a crash cart they didn't even bother to get them out of the room. Instead they began working trying to revive Garcia. Morgan stayed by her side until Reid and Hotch had to pull him back so that the staff could do their job. At that point it was as if everything was in slow motion. The doctor came in and began to give orders. They tried and tried again to get her heart started but it wasn't working.

Morgan didn't even realize he was yelling her name until his voice gave out and he couldn't yell anymore.

The team then saw the doctor and nurses stop and begin to pack up. The doctor turned toward them.

"I'm sorry. Ms. Garcia's not coming back this time. We tried, but…"

"No!" Morgan yelled at the man "Keep trying she's not died."

"I am sorry. There's nothing more we can do." He said calmly

"There has to be something." Reid said with tears in his eyes as he stared at his friend.

"She lasted longer than I expected, but…"

"No…no buts…"Morgan said angrily "Move over!" he said to the nurse who had just removed Garcia's breathing tube. Morgan then began CPR. No one said anything for a few seconds then Hotch walked over to the opposite side of the bed.

"Morgan, it's too late. She's gone."

Morgan ignored him and kept going even as he felt her broken ribs under his hands and he began to get sick.

"Morgan." Hotch tried again "Derek" That time he looked up and when he did he saw the tears attempting to escape his boss' eyes. "It's no use. We're going to have to let her go now."

Morgan looked at Hotch and back down at Penelope. She was gone and there wasn't anything he could do. His knees began to get weak and he couldn't stand anymore. Luckily there was a chair nearby. He sat down and scooted it up right next to Penelope. He put his hand on her head and just stared at her. He felt like crying and throwing up at the same time. He closed his eyes as a tear ran down his face.

Hotch stood and watched his team. He had to be strong. He could cry later, but right now he had to be strong for them. But he was finding it harder to keep the tears back.

The other three were still standing by the wall in shock. Reid's mouth was hanging open and JJ was covering her mouth as Emily stared blankly into space.

They had completely forgotten about the doctor still standing there. "We'll give you a few minutes to say goodbye." He said sadly

"Thank you" Hotch said not even looking at him. He was staring at his tech trying to calm his nerves.

Garcia didn't know were she was, but there was a lot of light. Not blinding light, just light. She had been dimly aware of people talking. 'They sound so familiar' she thought. She listened closely and could hear bits and pieces of what they were saying. 'It's them! My friends!' she thought. She listened longer and wanted to cry. She tried to fight to do something but then she saw Rigswood and could feel the pain. 'Is it really worth it?' she asked herself. 'All that pain or I could stay and there's no pain at all. In fact I feel good here' she thought 'Where ever here is.' She continued to listen to her friends and had to smile. 'They'll be alright. I mean I'm not that important. They'll get through this just like they always do.' She told herself.

She began to get weaker and tired. 'I think it's almost time' she said as her eyes began to close. She could dimly hear someone calling her name from far away. 'Derek' she thought. He was calling her over and over. 'They'll be fine. The team will take care of each other' she reasoned as she began drift off.

JJ hadn't actually cried, at least not full blown crying, until then. When the doctor left reality hit her and she couldn't hold it any longer. She burst out in tears. Reid put a hand on her back and after Emily realized what was happening she too put a hand on JJ's shoulder. Hotch walked over and hugged her. He held her tight not just for her good but his too. JJ kept crying and at one point even cried her friend's name. Morgan couldn't take it anymore. He started crying just a bit and laid his head against Penelope.

She was almost gone. She began to forget about everything accept the light until she heard someone cry. 'JJ?' Garcia thought. She listened and could hear her friend crying. 'It sounds like she's in pain.' She thought worriedly. She tried to focus but things just got blurry and she started to feel dizzy. And that's when she heard it. 'Derek!' she thought as she distinctly heard him cry. 'What's wrong with you and JJ?" she tried to ask but nothing would come out. Something began to pull her. 'No! I can't leave my friends. I think they're hurt. I have to help them!' she resisted the pull and used all her strength to focus on her friends. She saw Rigswood and felt the pain as if were the first time. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She couldn't give up. Her friends were in trouble. Then she saw them. All of them laughing and talking as if it were just yesterday. 'I'm coming guys!' she tried to tell them as the pulling got stronger. Then everything went black.

JJ was still crying on Hotch's shoulder with Reid rubbing her back and letting the tears fall freely down his own face. Emily, though still in a bit of shock, was crying now too with her face in her hands as she sat in a chair against the wall. Even Hotch couldn't stop the tears that managed to escape. Morgan was still lying his head down next to Garcia and periodically shook his head. That's when it happened.

All of a sudden they heard a loud intake of breath as if someone was gasping for air. Morgan was so surprised his chair fell backwards, but he wasn't on the ground long. In a second he was standing next to Penelope along with the others who looked as if they were about to faint.

Garcia started gasping for air and her back arched. Morgan grabbed her arms trying to get her calm so she wouldn't hurt her self. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Hey we need help in here!" Emily yelled from the door and then rushed back over.

"It's ok baby girl. I got you." Morgan said stroking her hair. She was still gasping and coughing.

"Garcia, try to breathe slowly." Reid said just as the doctor and a nurse came in.

When they saw the scene before them their jaws dropped and the nurse put her hand over her heart. It only took a second for the doctor to get over his shock enough to get to work.

"Let's go. We need a breathing mask and insulator, more blood, stats, get that machine back on now!" He ordered as several nurses started to run around.

She could feel herself starting to wake up. The sounds of her friends were getting closer. Then all of a sudden pain rushed throughout her entire body. She opened her eyes and she couldn't breathe. She couldn't get enough air into her lungs. Someone started stroking her hair and she realized she wasn't alone. Right in front of her was a pair of dark brown eyes. 'Derek' she tried to say but nothing would come out. 'What's happened?' she thought. Derek's eyes were full of tears, but not just that also, hope, love, and worry could all be seen in just a glance. The amount of pure love and sadness in that one look nearly broke her heart. She then noticed that her whole team was in the room, but she couldn't do anything but gasp for air and whenever she tried to speak she'd cough instead. She could see their mouths moving and looking at her but she couldn't hear what they were saying. In fact she couldn't hear anything except the beating of her own heart. Soon the lack of air and pain engulfed her and she began to slip into painless oblivion.

Morgan was staring at Garcia as she continued to gasp for air and whispered encouragements. When the nurses came over to him to get him to move he absolutely refused. "I'm not leaving Penelope." He stated looking straight into the nurses eyes.

"Agent Hotchner I must insist that all of you step outside while we work." The doctor said to Hotch and the others who were also staying as close as possible to Garcia.

"She's family. We can't leave her." JJ said

"Especially not now." Emily added

"I'm sorry but if you don't all leave I will get security. It is best for Ms. Garcia if none of you are here to get in the way. Now hurry, we must work now before she slips into another coma or worse!" He said all the while giving orders

"Fine. Morgan lets go!" Hotch said

"I'm not leaving her."

"The doctor needs to help her before it's too late and you're just getting in the way." Hotch said angrily. Morgan looked up and saw the others by the door looking worried and scared and saw Hotch giving him the 'I'm the boss look'. He looked down and saw that Penelope's eyes were beginning to close as a nurse put a mask over her mouth and nose.

"Morgan, please." Hotch said a bit more quietly

So Morgan reluctantly followed the rest of the team out and once outside a nurse closed the door with a bang.

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	16. Chapter 16: Alive

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

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Chapter Sixteen: Alive

The team was impatiently waiting for the doctor to come out so they could see Garcia. They had been waiting for about twenty and in that time several different people had been going in and out of Garcia's room.

Hotch had his arms crossed and was staring down the hall, Emily was biting her nails staring at random objects, JJ was sitting next to Emily and was staring at the floor with a distant look in her eyes, Reid was leaning against the wall by JJ with his arms crossed, while Morgan paced back and forth in front of Garcia's door.

A minute later the doctor finally came out and for the first time he didn't look depressed. The team was around him before he could even look up.

"Well, is she alright?" JJ asked worriedly

The doctor looked at them and smiled. "She's alive. It's amazing; she doesn't even have brain damage. Apparently she just needed more time, kind of like an after shock."

As soon as he had said 'alive' the team had visible relaxed and every one of them was smiling.

"This friend of yours is very strong willed. I've never seen anyone fight so hard." The doctor said with a huge smile

"Garcia can be very stubborn." Emily said with a laugh

"Is she going to be ok now?" Morgan asked not even trying to hide the worry in his voice

"Eventually, yes. But now that she's awake we need to focus on her injuries. When she woke up she ripped some of her stitches and lost some blood. We re-stitched them and bandaged her up, but she'll need to be careful. She can't afford to lose much blood. Not to mention the fact that she has two broken legs, a broken arm and hand, a sprained ankle, dislocated shoulder, and somehow her ribs are even more broken than before. I mean they were bad before but now it's as if they're crushed." He said with a look at Morgan. "I'm guessing that happened when you tried to give her CPR." He said but was smiling.

Morgan looked down but didn't regret trying to get his angel back.

"Then there's the burns, cuts, whip marks, stab wounds, holes in her wrists, and lack of skin on her back and wrists. So she's going to be in the hospital for awhile. If she puts too much pressure on her legs then they won't heal right and she may even have to wear a boot and walk with a cane for the rest of her life so she needs to stay off of them. Actually she needs to do nothing at all if she's going to heal up alright. She's still having trouble breathing so the machine is helping, but at least it's not doing all the work like before. It's going to be painful but as long as she gets plenty of rest and there are no complications she should heal up nicely. It's going to take awhile though even after she leaves the hospital."

"Thank you doctor." Hotch said smiling

"You don't have to thank me. She's one tough lady, that much she's proven." The doctor said as he shook Hotch's hand

"Um…one more question doctor." Emily said "Can we transfer her to a hospital in Quantico? I think she'd be more comfortable there. Not that you're not doing a good job, but…"

"It's alright I understand perfectly." He said holding his hand up to stop her "She's defiantly not ready to be moved yet. Maybe in a couple of weeks." He said with a smile

"Thank you." JJ said really smiling for the first time in days

"It's no problem. Now if you'll excuse me I need to check on another patient." He turned to leave but stopped and turned back "Ms. Garcia should be fine physically, but I've seen rape cases before. It is going to be very important that someone is there for her. Plus the fact that she was tortured…well, she's going to be in a lot of pain and not just physically."

"Don't worry, we understand." Emily said with a smile

"We don't leave team members and most certainly not family." Hotch said

"Ms Garcia must be one special lady." The doctor said with a smile

"You have no idea." Morgan said and the others laughed slightly and nodded

The doctor left and the team made their way to Garcia's door. They slowly opened it and went in. When they saw Garcia lying in bed with her eyes opened, or at least as open as was possible with her swollen eye and black one, they smiled like they hadn't in days and JJ wanted to cry with joy. Garcia was leaning back, but her skin was already getting its color back. The team approached her bed and the nurse who was still there turned to them and smiled.

"We just gave her some pain medicine so she'll probably be asleep soon. We wanted to leave the breathing mask on her but she didn't like it so we used a regular oxygen tube." The nurse said quietly "I'll leave you alone." She said still smiling as she left the room

Once at her bed Morgan carefully placed his hand on her bandaged head. Garcia opened her left eye a bit more, but couldn't open the right one anymore since it was still red and extremely swollen. She looked up and when she saw them she tried to smile but her busted jaw wouldn't allow it. When she saw the looks on their faces she wanted to cry. She looked at Morgan and her heart beat faster than it had since they found her. His eyes were full of pure love. She was distracted from this when she saw JJ sniffling out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, don't cry JJ" Garcia tried to say but pain rushed through her face and she flinched. The words came out so quiet that the team barely heard her. But the fact that she was awake and at least attempting to talk made them want to jump for joy.

"Sorry Garcia, I'm just really glad you're awake." JJ said with a smile

They could see that she was fighting to stay awake.

"Go to sleep baby girl. You need your rest." Morgan said quietly

In a second Garcia's eye was closed and she was sound asleep. The team sat down around her bed and just watched her sleep with smiles on their faces.

The next morning Garcia was still asleep. The team had fallen asleep as well but had woken up about an hour ago and had already had breakfast, which JJ and Reid had brought back from the cafeteria since Morgan wouldn't leave. So they were now just sitting around drinking coffee and waiting for Garcia to wake up.

A couple of minutes later Garcia began to wake up, so they pulled chairs up around her bed and smiled. They wanted to hold her hand or touch her arm but she was wrapped up in bandages and had so many wounds they didn't want to risk hurting her any more.

Once her eye was open she looked around at them and attempted to smile.

"How are you feeling Garcia?" Reid asked. They all looked at him with raised eyebrows and if she could have Garcia would have laughed. "Sorry, stupid question." He said blushing slightly

"Thank you." Garcia said weakly.

At this they all looked at her with confusion obvious in their eyes.

"For what sweetness?" Morgan asked as he lightly put his hand on her head for just a second until he saw her flinch

"Saving me." She said simply trying to smile

"Garcia, we wouldn't have been able to find you in time if you hadn't left us that file." Reid said as if it were obvious

"Besides, your family and we don't leave family." JJ said smiling

Garcia felt like crying but it hurt too much.

"Penelope, did you by chance hear us when you were unconscious? Morgan asked

"I'm… not sure. I kind of remember people talking, but I don't know what they said. For all I know I could have been dreaming." She said quietly

"Garcia, you're very important to all of us. Not just as our tech, which by the way you really are the best, you're also our friend and as far as we're concerned family." Hotch said looking her straight in the eye

"I… we would have been lost without baby girl." Morgan said

"Ya, I'm pretty sure we're the ones who should be thinking you." Said Emily with a smile

Garcia forgot about the pain, she let the tears come. She knew by the looks in their eyes that they meant every word and would always be there for her.

They saw the tears in her eye and wanted to hug her or wipe them away, but knew that if they did they might hurt her. It broke their hearts to see her in pain, but they knew it'd get better. She was always there for them, now it was there turn to be there for her and help her through the pain.

Morgan wanted to tell her, to show her how he felt, but he knew that he should wait just a bit longer until they were alone.

"Garcia I'm sure you don't want to think about this at the moment but, how much do you remember?" Hotch asked

Garcia hesitated. She could tell them, they were her best friends and family after all, but she really didn't want to have to relive that. She looked away and tears began to form again so she closed her eye.

Hotch reached out and lightly placed his hand on hers, but pulled back when she flinched and began to tremble slightly.

"Garcia, we don't want to hurt you and we won't let anything happen to you, but sooner or later you're going to have to tell us for your own good. If I thought it would make it better I'd say you didn't have to, but it won't." Hotch said quietly

"Penelope, whenever we need to talk you're always there to listen no matter what it's about and when we don't want to talk about something you make us because you know it'll make us feel better eventually. It's our turn to listen to you now." JJ said looking at her friend with sad eyes

"Princess, we want to help you. Now, like Hotch said, you don't have to tell us now, but sooner or later you will. We love you way too much to let you keep it inside." Morgan said as he carefully wiped a tear away. Garcia grimaced from the pain but stopped shaking.

She looked back at them and opened her black eye. She didn't say anything so they were going to change the subject until they heard the one word that broke their hearts even more and made them want to find Rigswood and beat him to death.

"Everything." She said quietly. It was actually a bit of an understatement. She remembered every second. She could remember the feel on his hands touching her, the feel of his breath as he whispered in her ear, his voice, his smell, his footsteps, even his breathing. She could recall with perfect clarity the feel of the ground, of his 'toys', and remembered how she got each and every cut, bruise, and broken bone.

"I'm so sorry Garcia." JJ said with tears in her eyes

Garcia looked away for a second before asking the question that had been on her mind since she woke up. "Is he…" she trailed off

"We got Rigswood, sweetness." Morgan said comfortingly as he lightly stroked her hair.

"He's in prison." Reid stated

"We won't let him hurt you again Penelope." Said Emily who desperately felt like crying

"Thank you." Garcia said as her eye began to droop because of the pain medicine

"You don't ever have to think us Garcia." Hotch said "Why don't you try and get some sleep."

"Is that an order?" she asked with a slight smile

"Go to sleep Garcia." Hotch said smiling back as the others laughed

They thought it was amazing, that even when she was obviously in pain she still made them laugh. She was alive and they planned to make sure that she kept on living.

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	17. Chapter 17: Comfort

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds; we all know it belongs to CBS

Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it took so long to update.

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Chapter Seventeen: Comfort

Garcia had mostly slept through the first three days after she woke up and when she was awake she wasn't able to talk very well and was in too much pain to stay awake long, but when the team woke up on the fourth day they found Garcia awake and staring blankly at the wall.

Reid had been the first one to wake up and when he saw Garcia staring into space he reached over and woke Emily up. Once awake she looked at him slightly confused until he nodded toward Garcia. She then got a worried look on her face as she turned in her seat to wake JJ and Hotch up. While she was doing that Reid got up and quietly walked over to Morgan. He shook his shoulder and Morgan sat up tiredly. Once Morgan saw Reid he opened his mouth to say something but Reid held up his hand and moved so that Morgan could see Garcia. Morgan then stood up quickly and took the couple of steps to Garcia's bed.

"Good morning princess." Morgan said trying to get her attention without startling her.

She flinched slightly, but quickly replied turning her head as much as she could with a bandage still around her neck. "I'll show you a good morning hot stuff." She said with a much stronger voice than she had had for the past few days.

Morgan and the others, who had come up after him, laughed.

"Do you need anything Penelope?" Morgan asked seriously

"Nope, I'm good sweetie." Garcia replied

"Are you sure? Do you need more pain meds?" Emily asked worriedly

"No, I'm ok. Just a bit sore." She said and smiled slightly, but the others could tell she was lying

"Penelope, you know you don't have to be strong. Like we already told you, we're your family and we want to help you and talking is the best way." Morgan said gently

"I know handsome, but I just can't… not yet." She said and the team could distinctly see tears start to form in her eye, but as soon as they appeared they were gone.

"How long have you been awake Garcia?" Emily asked deciding it was time to change the subject

"Um… an hour, maybe two I guess." She answered nonchalantly

"Princess, you should have woken us up." Morgan said trying his best to keep the worry out of his voice

"I figured you guys could use the sleep, besides your adorable when you're asleep." Garcia replied with a slight smile before getting serous "You guys know you don't have to stay right? I mean, you must want to go home and I'll be fine, so…"

But before she could finish Morgan leaned down, placing both his hands on the side of the bed and looked her straight in the eye. "Penelope, we want to stay and there's no way in hell we're leaving you. Besides, do you really want us to leave?"

Garcia waited a second just looking into Morgan's eyes. She could see the honesty and love. "No." She said simply still looking at Morgan

"Good because we're not going anywhere." JJ said. She wanted to hold her friend's hand or touch her arm, but with a simple glance down she decided it wasn't a good idea. Garcia turned toward her friend and tried to smile which made JJ want to cry.

There was then a knock on the door and the doctor came in. "Well good morning Ms. Garcia." He said happily when he looked up and saw that she was awake

Garcia didn't reply, she just smiled slightly and the others could see the nervousness in her eye, in fact they could swear it was fear.

"Since you're awake, how about we examine your injuries?" he said kindly trying to make her feel relaxed. Garcia just nodded her head the slightest bit still watching the man.

"I believe it would be best if you all waited outside." The doctor said smiling to the others

"Don't think so Doc.." Morgan said standing protectively over Garcia while Hotch crossed his arms and Reid stared at the man as if he had two heads.

"I don't mean to be rude, but it would be better for Ms. Garcia." He said not backing down

The others looked at Hotch, except Morgan who was still watching the doctor. Hotch hesitated and then looked over at Garcia who smiled slightly letting him know it was ok.

"Alright, we'll be right outside if you need us Garcia." Hotch said looking at Garcia and glancing at the doctor. So Hotch, JJ, Emily, and Reid headed for the door but stopped when they noticed Morgan wasn't fallowing them. He was still standing by Garcia with his arms crossed.

"Agent Morgan if you could…" the doctor began

"No." Morgan said sternly

"Morgan…" But before Hotch could finish Garcia spoke up

"Hot stuff, it's ok, really. You guys can go and get some coffee or something." Garcia said comfortingly. Morgan looked down at her but the determination was still evident on his face.

"Penelope…"

"Go." Garcia said just as determined. Morgan stared at her for a second but when he realized he wasn't going to win he sighed and gave in.

"All right, but call if you need anything. We'll be just outside the door." He said worry obvious on his face. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving her alone with someone none of them really knew. 'Actually I can't stand leaving her at all' He thought to himself as he made his way to the door with the others. Hotch held the door and once Morgan and the others were out he smiled at Garcia before closing the door behind him.

Once the door was closed Morgan looked up and saw JJ and Emily smirking at him with their arms crossed. "What?" he asked confused

"You just took an order from Garcia." JJ said with a knowing smile. Morgan just smiled and shook his head.

A few minutes later the doctor came out and the team was soon gathered around him.

"She didn't want to admit it, but Ms. Garcia was in an extreme amount of pain, so I gave her some extra pain medicine. They should be kicking in soon so she'll probably be asleep within a few minutes." The doctor said looking around at them. He then said goodbye and left to make his rounds. So the team quietly opened the door and went in. Garcia was lying still with her eyes closed, so they just went to their seats and sat down quietly.

"Did you bring me some coffee?" Garcia asked tiredly with her eyes still closed

"Sorry baby girl, even if we did go to get coffee you wouldn't get any." Morgan said with a laugh as he drew his chair up as close to Garcia as possible.

"Aww… come on, just a little?" she said with a slight smile as she drifted off

"Not a chance silly girl." He said and gently stroked her hair. Within a second she was sound asleep

"Hey, I'm going to go grab some stuff from the cafeteria and bring it up while Garcia's asleep." Emily said a minute later as she began to stand up.

"I'll help you carry it up." Reid said standing as well. "Any special request?" he asked looking at the other three

"No, just whatever you guys get." JJ said with a smile

"Same." Hotch replied.

They looked over at Morgan but he continued to just stare at Garcia and run his hand through her hair.

"Morgan." Emily said trying to get his attention. "Derek!" she said a bit louder when he didn't respond

"Ya, what?" he asked looking up

"What do you want to eat?" JJ asked

"Oh, um, I don't care, whatever." He said and went back to watching Penelope

The others just looked at each other with raised eyebrows before Emily and Reid went to get food. When they got back Reid handed Morgan a small brown bag, but Morgan just took it without even bothering to open it.

"Morgan, eat." Hotch said when he noticed that he was still watching Garcia and ignoring his food. Morgan looked up at his boss and back at Penelope before leaning back and opening his bag.

About half an hour later they were all done eating and were just setting around talking quietly. They were startled out of their conversations when they heard a soft sob. They looked around and suddenly Garcia began to twist and turn.

They got up quickly and gathered around Garcia's bed. She was sound asleep but was mumbling and beginning to thrash.

"Penelope, wake up." Morgan said trying to get her to wake up before she hurt herself or tore her stitches.

"Come on Pen." JJ tried.

Garcia just continued to twist and was now crying silently.

"She's going to hurt herself." Reid said worriedly. Morgan carefully grabbed her arms and tried to get her to calm down and stop thrashing, but she just fought back.

"No, please, stop!" she cried still sound asleep.

It broke their hearts to hear their friend pleading and crying. JJ bent down and whispered to her trying to calm her down while Hotch and Reid tried to stop her from moving her legs too much.

"Penelope, it's ok. We aren't going to hurt you." Emily said trying to comfort her

"Shh… baby girl, it's us. You need to calm down. It's alright sweetness." Morgan said and let go of her arm for a second so that he could cup her cheek gently

"No, get off me!" Garcia cried

"Penelope, baby girl, please." Morgan said almost pleadingly. He bent down and leaned his forehead against hers. To their surprise she began to calm down. Within seconds she was still again but still asleep. Morgan slowly pulled his head back and wiped away the stray tears on her cheek with his thumb.

"Should we get a nurse or someone to make sure she didn't rip any stitches?" Emily asked worriedly

"I think she'll be ok. She needs to rest and we can always get someone once she wakes up." Reid stated watching Garcia with a sad look.

"How can we help her if she doesn't talk to us? I mean she hasn't even cried, not really anyways, except just now and that was only because of a nightmare." Emily said distractedly still watching Garcia in case she started having another bad dream.

"She'll talk to us eventually. But Garcia's used to taking care of herself, so the only thing we can do right now is be there for her. If she doesn't talk soon then we can push the subject." Hotch stated

So they all pulled up their chairs next to Garcia's bed and sat there lost in their own thoughts. When Garcia began to whimper slightly they reacted immediately. They didn't care about putting pressure on her wounds; they just wanted to comfort her. Morgan leaned forward and ran his hand over her head and whispered in her ear. JJ, who was opposite Morgan on Garcia's left, gently placed her hand on Garcia's shoulder while Emily used both hand to lightly hold Garcia's. Hotch, who was next to Morgan, placed his hand gently on Penelope's arm and Reid leaned over and carefully rubbed his thumb over her hand.

As soon as she felt the contact Garcia became rigid for a second but soon relaxed and stopped whimpering. The team stayed like that not wanting to let her go and Garcia slept soundly without making a noise.

Meanwhile….

He couldn't believe they'd actually caught him. It was all her fault, he wasn't sure how but it was her fault.

Rigswood was sitting on the lumpy cot in the small jail cell. He couldn't stop thinking of the previous week. She had been perfect, just like he thought she would. He looked back and couldn't help but smile at the memory of finally getting her to scream and cry. It had been music to his ears. He closed his eyes and remembered the feel of her skin, the pain in her eyes, the way she fought back but eventually broke, and how her hair flowed through her fingers. When he opened his eyes and looked down at his hands he could almost imagine her blood covering them, and he just had to smile.

His musings were cut short by a cop beating on his cell. "Rigswood! Let's go." The cop said looking at him with disgust. "You're being transferred." Soon there were two more guards and they opened the door, grabbed him, and led him by the arm out to a van.

All the while he was smiling. A plan was already forming in his head. If he couldn't have her then no one else could ether. He was going to finish what he started and he planned to enjoy it. This was the perfect opportunity; all he had to do was wait until they started the van.

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	18. Chapter 18: Escaping

Disclaimer: As you know I don't own Criminal Minds.

Sorry it took so long to post. Hope you like the chapter. As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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Chapter Eighteen: Escaping

The van had been driving for about five minutes. Rigswood sat quietly in the back, still handcuffed, with two guards sitting opposite him. As the guards began to relax slightly he decided it was time to act.

"Excuse me, sir." He began in his most polite voice with a smile

"What?" One of the guards asked

"I think I heard the driver call you." He said since he was sitting closest to the blocked window toward the front.

The guard looked over at the other one before slowly standing and moving toward Rigswood. Rigswood waited until he was right in front of him and facing the blocked window that separated the driver from the prisoner before lounging forward and grabbing the officer's gun. He shot the first guard and then, just the other guard got his gun out, he shot him right between the eyes before he could pull the trigger.

Rigswood didn't hesitate a second, he leaned down, grabbed the keys to his cuffs, and bolted for the door. Just as he jumped out, the transport van screeched to a stop. He ducked down and waited for the last man to get out and once he did, Rigswood shot him as well. He then quickly unlocked his cuffs and began to pull the guards into the trees. He took another gun, some bullets, and one of the cop's uniforms before turning to leave but stopped when he saw the knife in the driver's boot.

An evil smile spread across his face as he imagined the many things he could do to his dear Penelope with that. So he went back and took the knife before turning and running. Those FBI agents had probably taken her to the hospital, luckily for him it wasn't far from the highway he was on. So he made his way to her. It wouldn't be much longer now.

The team was still gathered around Garcia as she started to wake up. She opened her good eye and tensed at first because of all the people around her, but then realized who it was and instead she got a confused look on her face.

"Um…hi." She said wondering what they were all doing so close to her and watching her with worried looks

"Are you ok Garcia?" Reid asked worriedly

"I feel like I've been run over by a semi-truck a couple of times, but other then that, ya." She said with a slight smile as she tried to sit up, but pain rushed through her and she had to lie back down

"Take it easy Penelope." Morgan said carefully placing his hand on her shoulder

"I'll go get a nurse to give you some more pain meds." Emily said letting go of her hand and heading for the door

Penelope watched her leave and when she looked around at the others she began to get a bit nervous. They were watching her to the point it was basically staring and they were all touching her, something they hadn't really done since she woke up. Even Hotch had his hand on her arm. Though the pressure wasn't exactly comfortable their contact seemed to make her feel at least a little bit safer for some reason.

She smiled at them and Reid nervously smiled back, but JJ looked down and Penelope could have sworn she saw a tear in her eye, but before she could say anything Emily came back with a nurse who smiled warmly and without a word injected something into her IV. She then turned and left quietly.

"Ok, I'm not complaining or anything, but what are all of you doing so close?" She asked after the nurse had left.

"You had a nightmare baby girl." Derek stated calmly as he gently stroked her hair

"Do you remember what it was about?" Hotch asked

Of course she remembered what it was about. It hadn't really been a nightmare, it had been more like a really bad memory and she defiantly didn't want to tell them what it was about. She knew she'd have to tell someone one day, but the prospect of having to relive that to her friends, her family, scared her almost as much as going to sleep and reliving it again and again. She couldn't lie to them; they were profilers after all, so she decided to just bend the truth.

"Um… kind of." She said "Bits and pieces, you know?" At least it wasn't a full out lie.

They knew she wasn't being completely honest, but Hotch was right, they'd give her time.

"Why don't you guys go get some coffee and fresh air? You look a bit pale." Penelope said slightly worried, but really just wanted them to stop watching her

"No, I think we're good." JJ said with a smile

"Guys, come on, we all know I'm going to be here for awhile and you can't stay with me constantly." She tried. She really did feel bad that they were basically living in a hospital, but at the same time she enjoyed the fact that they cared so much for her.

"Garcia, we aren't going anywhere. We all have more than enough vacation time and it doesn't matter how long it takes we are not leaving." Hotch said sternly in his best boss like voice

"Don't worry that pretty little head of yours sweetness, we're just fine and whether you believe it or not, we want to be here with you." Morgan said smiling

At that point Garcia began to feel light headed and she was fighting to keep her eye open.

The others watched as her eye began to close and within a minute the pain medicine kicked in and she was sound asleep again.

About twenty minutes later a couple of nurses came in.

"Excuse me, could you all wait outside for a little while." The older one said with a kind, yet stern look

"Why?" Emily asked

"We need to change Ms. Garcia's bandages." The younger of the two explained

"Can't you do it with us here?" Reid asked

At the nurses just raised their eyebrows.

"We understand you want to protect her, but you really need to let us do our job. I assure you that Ms. Garcia will be fine until you get back." The older nurse said

"How long will this take?" Hotch asked

"About ten to fifteen minutes." The younger nurse answered kindly

"Alright, but if something happens…"

"You will be told immediately."

With that Hotch nodded slightly before moving so the others could leave first.

"Morgan, it's only for a little while. Come on." Hotch said before Morgan could even refuse

He looked at his boss before turning to Penelope and gently kissing her forehead. He then reluctantly followed Hotch out into the hall.

"Why don't we all go down stairs and get some coffee and air like Garcia said." Emily suggested "It'll make the time go by faster."

"Ya, sure." JJ said

So they all made their way to the elevators after Reid and Hotch basically dragged Morgan away form Garcia's door.

He'd made it. This had to be where they took her; it was after all the closest hospital. Rigswood confidently made his way to the service desk where the lady told him the floor number Penelope was on. When he got inside the empty elevator he had to laugh. It was amazing how people didn't think twice about someone in a cop's uniform. When he got out of the elevator he once again walked up to the nurses' desk.

He would defiantly have to keep this uniform for future use. He thought to himself. He had simply asked which room Penelope Garcia was in and a minute later a nurse was leading him to her room. As he approached the door two nurses came out.

"They were just changing Ms. Garcia's bandages." The nurse who was leading him said as if he might be worried

"Think you very much." He said kindly with his most charming smile as they stopped outside the door "If you don't mind I'd like some privacy with Ms. Garcia now."

"Of course officer. She's asleep at the moment but she should be waking up soon. Ms. Garcia hasn't been sleeping well you see." The nurse said

"I understand." He said and turned toward the door. He smiled to himself as he closed the door behind him and looked at her. Just by looking at her it was obvious she must be in a lot of pain with the number of injuries. He was extremely happy at that moment, knowing that it was he who had caused her pain and that it was because of him that she hadn't been sleeping well. And now he was about to have some fun. He locked the door and put a chair against it before making his way over to her.

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	19. Chapter 19: Rigswood's Return

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

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Chapter Nineteen: Rigswood's Return

… _And now he was about to have some fun._ _He locked the door and put a chair against it before making his way over to her._

He watched her chest rise and fall as he got closer. When he was finally by her side he used his right to stroke her cheek. She flinched and whimpered in her sleep and his smile widened. He pulled the knife out of his back pocket before slowly running his hand down her face, her neck, over her chest and to her hips.

Garcia thought she was having another nightmare. She could distinctly hear Rigswood's breathing and her heart sped up when she felt the hands she knew all too well sliding down her body. She tightened her eyes hoping she'd wake up, but she soon realized it wasn't a dream when she felt a rough hand slide up her thigh and begin to push her hospital gown up. Her eyes opened and sure enough, standing over her with a smile, was Rigswood.

At first she froze, she couldn't move or even think. After a second she opened her mouth slightly getting ready to scream for help, but he forced a knife to her throat before she could so much as take a breath. The hand on her thigh squeezed and she couldn't repress the gasp of pain from having so much pressure on her wounds.

"Now, now Penelope, we wouldn't want our reunion to be interrupted now would we?" he said in a soft voice as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

Penelope glanced around but her friends weren't there and the door was closed. She tried not to cry, but a tear escaped as she felt his breath against her skin. She closed her eyes trying to think of something she could do, but it was becoming harder to think as fear overwhelmed her.

His hand moved back up her body, while he smelled her hair, and came to rest on her dislocated shoulder. The pain was overwhelming and she began to become light headed, but just as she though she was going to pass out he stood up straight and smirked at her.

She looked up and saw the eyes that she knew she'd never forget. At that moment she wished she was still in a coma, but another part of her was screaming at her to fight back. She began to reach for the help button on her bed as his knife lightly ran down her face to her chest, but he saw her hand move and before she could reach the button he slammed his free hand down on hers. Pain once again exploded through her as she heard him laugh.

Penelope's eye opened just as Rigswood was about to stab her in the stomach and she instinctively reached up to stop him. She wasn't sure how, with her arm and hand in a cast, but she was able to hold his hand just inches above her. She let go with one hand and reach out to hit him, but he moved and so she only succeeded in hitting his arm. He had moved which meant she had a chance to call for help, but before she could he lunged forward and covered her mouth with his hand.

With a push he slammed her back down and dropped the knife to hold her by the shoulders.

"I really wanted to enjoy this a bit more my dear, but unfortunately I'm not sure when those FBI agents will be back so I guess I'll just have to finish now." He said with an evil smile and a glint in his eye. "But I assure you, it won't be too fast." He said still trying to restrain her as she continued to struggle the best she could.

He suddenly wrapped both his hand around her already wounded throat and began to choke her. Her hand came up and tried to pry his away but she was already becoming light headed. She could see the pleasure on his face as he smiled down at her and even laughed.

Her skin was as soft as he remembered. He'd waiting for this day and now it had finally come. Of course he hadn't had time to cut her hand off, but at least he could enjoy the time he had. The panic and fear in her eyes sent a rush through his body and he had to laugh.

The team was in the elevator on their way back to Penelope's room. They had gone down stairs and gotten coffee before heading outside to sit on the benches. None of them had said much and after only a few minutes they had headed in anxious to get back. As they passed the nurses desk they heard a young nurse call them.

"Excuse me, but you might want to wait a minute before going into Ms. Garcia's room." She said with a smile

"Why?" Reid asked confused

"Because there's a police officer in there right now." The nurse stated simply

"A police officer?" Morgan asked out loud to no one in particular

The nurse just nodded and smiled before going back to work.

"Why would a cop need to talk to Garcia?" JJ wondered looking around at the others

"They wouldn't" Hotch said simply as he and Morgan quickly led the way to Garcia's room

Morgan reached the door first and when the handle wouldn't move worry and fear rushed through all of them.

As Morgan stood back and got ready to kick the door in the others all silently drew their guns. Morgan kicked down the door and anger flared in his eyes at the scene in front of him. There was Rigswood, in a police uniform, bending over Penelope and strangling her.

He rushed forward before the others could say a word and just a he got to him, Rigswood turned. Morgan punched him and he staggered back a minute, but then lunged forward and knocked Morgan backward into the wall. He looked up and saw Rigswood coming at him again but he bolted forward and hit him so hard he fall to the ground gasping for air. Morgan didn't hesitate a second he got down on top of Rigswood and started punching him everywhere.

He expected the others to stop him any minute, but they didn't. Suddenly he realized Penelope was coughing and worry rushed over him. He looked up, but when he did Rigswood took the opportunity to punch him in the gut. Morgan was forced off of him, but before he could stand up all the way Morgan grabbed his shirt and threw him into the hall. He then went after him but Rigswood pulled out his gun and fired. Morgan ducked and the bullet missed him, but in the next instance Rigswood had him up against the wall. Before he could do anything else a gunshot echoed through the hall. He glanced up and saw Hotch standing in the door with his gun pointed at Rigswood and Morgan couldn't remember ever seeing so much anger and hatred in his boss' face.

Morgan looked down and saw Rigswood covered in blood from head to toe but he was still alive. As Rigswood reached for his boot Morgan drew his gun and five gun shots rang out. Rigswood fall back and Morgan looked up. Sure enough there was Reid, JJ, Hotch, and Emily all with there guns out and pointed at Rigswood.

Emily moved forward and bent down to check his pulse. "Damn it, he's died." She said a bit angrily. She then looked up and saw the others looking at her with raised eyebrows. "What? Morgan got his chance to beat the crap out of him twice, I wanted my turn." She said as if it were obvious. The others smiled slightly but then remembered Garcia and hurried back.

When they entered the room Penelope was sitting up and refusing to let the two nurses touch her.

"Penelope." Morgan said as he and the others rushed over. Morgan lightly placed his hand on her arm, but she pulled away and started shaking. "Shh…It's alright baby girl. It's just me." He said softly trying to comfort her. She looked up at him and suddenly started crying. He got onto the bed and gently stroked her cheek not sure if she was going to let him touch her, but to his and everyone else's surprise she leaned forward and buried her head in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair as she continued to cry.

Everyone in the room was silent. It was the first time Garcia had openly cried so hard. Hotch walked over to the nurses and quietly asked them to come back later, then he and the others gathered around Penelope. JJ reached out her hand to comfort her friend, but quickly pulled back when Garcia flinched and began to shake again.

"He's gone Penelope. It'll be alright." Morgan said soothingly. She continued to cry but the shaking stopped and he closed his eyes wishing Rigswood had died slower. "We aren't going to let anything happen to you." He whispered in her ear as he pulled her closer. He knew he was probably hurting her, but at the moment she needed comfort just as much as he needed to know she was still there and still alive.

The others wanted to hold her hand or hug her, like she had done for them so many time, but they knew they had to wait until Penelope calmed down a bit. So they stood next to her and Morgan and occasionally whisperer to her so that she knew they were still there.

A few minutes later Penelope's crying began to subside and she slowly pulled back from Morgan's embrace. She wiped her eyes but grimaced at the pain. Her face and eyes were already swollen and now they were even more so. She then looked up and scanned the room as if she were looking for something.

"It's ok Garcia, Rigswood's gone." JJ said watching her with worried eyes

Penelope looked back at her friends, but avoided their eyes.

"He's gone for good this time baby girl. I promise." Morgan said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked up at him and the others and they could see her starting to relax.

"Thank you." She said softly with a slight smile that was obviously forced.

"Are you ok Penelope?" Emily asked worriedly. Garcia looked at her with a raised eyebrow along with the others. "I mean you were coughing and we don't know how long he was in here so…"

"I'll be fine sweetie." She said. "Nothing a few pain meds can't fix." She added trying to make them smile, but it didn't work.

"Princess, why don't you lie back down?" Morgan said. He placed his hand on her shoulder to help ease her back, but removed it when she grimaced from the added pressure.

Penelope slowly leaned back and closed her eye for a second when a wave of dizziness shot through her. When she looked up she saw her team, her family, standing there and watching her with worried looks. She wanted to be strong for them, but the pain was getting too bad.

"Reid, sweetie could you push the button for the morphine. Its right there by you hand." She said softly

Reid nodded sadly and pushed the button a couple of times hoping it would help her relax.

The one bad thing about the pain meds was that thy made her sleepy and she really didn't want to sleep right now because she knew the nightmares would come back and even though she knew it was irrational, she was afraid Rigswood would come back. But as the erg to sleep pulled her she found it hard to fight. She tensed suddenly when she felt a hand on hers, but soon relaxed. She'd know that hand anywhere and for some reason Derek's touch soothed her and made her feel safe. She opened her eye and looked up at her friends before succumbing to sleep.

"I'm going to go and get the nurse so she can make sure Garcia's ok." Reid said quietly once he was sure Penelope was asleep

"And ask them to bring something to help her sleep too." JJ said sadly as she looked down at her friend.

The team watched as Garcia asleep. Never in a million years would they want her to go through what she did today. If they could have stopped it they would have happily done so, but in a way it was a good thing because she had actually cried and released the built up emotions and maybe now she'd talk to them. Of course it wouldn't be easy, but they'd do whatever was necessary to get their old tech back.

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	20. Chapter 20: Healing

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds belongs to CBS, not me.

Sorry it took so long to update and thanks to everyone who reviewed!!

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Chapter Twenty: Healing

She could feel her back being torn to shreds and hear him breathing heavily. She shut her eyes as tight as she could against the pain as he dragged a knife across her stomach. She desperately wanted to throw up. Then, suddenly, it stopped. Penelope slowly opened her eyes and there was Rigswood staring down at her with a smirk and an evil glint in his eyes. He began to come near her again and she couldn't stop the tears. She tried to free her bound hands but when it didn't work she closed her eyes again knowing what was to come. When she felt a hand on her shoulder she cried out and tried to fight him off. She was dimly aware of someone calling her name. The voice sounded familiar, but it was so far away. 'No, leave me alone!' she cried out when another hand held her arm

As she continued to resist she heard more voices calling her and telling her to open her eyes, but she couldn't. If she opened her eyes then she'd see him, so instead she shut her eyes even tighter and tried to get the hands off her. Then she felt a hand on her face. Her first thought had been about the pain it caused, but then the hand began to lightly stroke her cheek. It wasn't like Rigswood's touch. It was gentle and loving. She relaxed slightly, though she wasn't sure why, and began to really listen to the voices. It was her friends. They were talking to her. Had they found her? They were telling her to relax and to open her eyes, so, reluctantly, she did. Slowly she opened her good eye and Rigswood was gone.

Penelope looked up and standing over her was her team. There was worry and sadness written all over their faces. She was confused, her head seemed to be foggy and for some reason she couldn't remember where she was. She glanced around the room as her heart raced and she found it hard to breath.

"Calm down baby girl. It's ok." Derek said soothingly

"Penelope, take a deep breath, you're going to hyperventilate." She heard Hotch say

Penelope closed her eye and did as he said. She took a deep breath hoping it would clear her head. She still felt a hand on her shoulder and thought Rigswood was back, but she opened her eye and that's when she noticed it was JJ's hand. The one on her face slid back and began to run through her hair. She looked over and sure enough, there was Derek watching her. It all came back to her and she realized she must have been having another nightmare, but her heart was still beating fast so she closed her eye and tried to calm down.

"Penelope, you need to try and drink some water." She heard Reid say softly

She opened her eye to see Reid standing next to Morgan holding a glass of water and looking worried. Penelope tried to set up, but as soon as she did a sharp pain shot through her chest and shoulder. She immediately laid back and took a breath trying to calm her nerves. A second later she felt a hand on her shoulder causing her to wince, but she once again opened her eye and, with Derek and JJ's help, managed to sit up as Emily brought over an extra pillow and placed it behind her back for support and to take away some of the pressure.

Derek took the water from Reid and held the straw out for her to drink. It was then she realized that she was shaking. She knew Derek was still holding the glass out for her to drink, but she didn't think she'd be able to keep it down at the moment so she closed her eye and tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Baby girl, it's ok. Drink some water for me, please." Derek said almost pleadingly

Penelope heard the emotion in his voice so she turned her head the best she could and took a sip of water. She hadn't even realized how thirsty she was until the cold liquid slid down her throat, so she took another drink.

After Penelope drank a little more Derek sat the glass on the night stand and instinctively ran his hand through her hair. As she began to relax, so did he. For a while he had thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest when Penelope had suddenly started screaming and muttering in her sleep. Then, when they had finally managed to wake her up, she had begun to have a panic attack. She still had a few drops of sweat on her face, but she was breathing better and she wasn't shaking as much.

"Thanks." Penelope said softly avoiding everyone's eyes. She looked down at her still slightly shaking hands and tried to clear her mind of her latest nightmare. She didn't like the fact that her friends had to wake her up from a nightmare or that they were watching her as she was on the verge of tears. She knew that they didn't care if she cried, actually they'd probable encourage it, but she also knew that if she did she'd have to start talking about the nightmare and she really didn't want to do that.

"Penelope, look at me." Derek said. When she didn't look up he gently placed his hand under her chin and almost pulled back when she flinched from pain, but instead he carefully lifted her chin up so he could look her in the eye.

"You don't have anything to be embarrassed about." He said as if he knew exactly what she was thinking about.

Penelope looked into his eyes and could clearly see the honesty, but there was something else. Love. There was no anger, no pity, and no amusement, just worry, love, and honesty.

Emily lightly placed her hand on Penelope's, but drew it back when she felt Penelope flinch and pull away instinctively.

"Garcia." Hotch said getting her attention. When Penelope looked at him and smiled slightly he continued. "I know you don't want to, no one in there right mind would, but you need to talk to someone. We want to help you and that's what we're going to do." He said and paused for a minute when he saw tears start to form in her eye. "The nightmares are only going to get worse if you keep it bottled up." He said softly

"We won't think any less of you because of what happened. We love you Penelope, you're important to us and we aren't going to let anything happen to you." JJ said reassuringly

There was a pause while Penelope looked around at her friends before Reid spoke. "We promise." He said and smiled slightly making him look even younger than he was

He looked so much like a kid it caused Penelope to laugh slightly and smiled at Reid while a tear ran down her face. "I know sweetie." She said with a smile that actually reached her eyes, which made the others smile as well. It was one of the first real, genuine smiles she had given them since she woke up in the hospital and they knew at that point that the healing process had begun.

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	21. Epilogue: The Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

I am so sorry it took so long to post this. Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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Epilogue: The Heart

Six months later….

As Penelope walked out of the elevator she smiled at the agents who immediately waved at her. As she passed by she ignored the fact that all of them were watching her go with a protective look. It was almost a custom now and although it had annoyed her at first, she was now quiet used to everyone keeping an eye on her.

Once she had been transferred to a Virginia hospital she had begun to get visitors. Everyone from agents to techs had either visited or sent her get well presents. It had taken a lot of time and physical therapy, but she had eventually been released and allowed to go home, which of course meant Derek's house. Once she was able to walk around more she had been sent to a psychiatrist, which she had resented at first. Morgan would always drive her and then wait patiently in the lobby.

She was still going to therapy, but not as often and she was doing much better. She allowed people to touch her and didn't even flinch except if they surprised her, which her team tried to make sure didn't happen. Her physical wounds were also almost completely healed. The only visible indications of what had happend was the boot on her right leg, the cane she held for support, the brace she sometimes wore on her shoulder, and of course a few scars, but most of them were easily hidden beneath her clothes. But none of that mattered to her much anymore. After all, the cane and boot weren't permanent and though the scars did bother her sometimes, Derek and the rest of her team were always there.

Penelope had been cleared for work about a month ago and after awhile Derek had relaxed a bit and actually let her walk around without him or Reid following her. Not that they had to worry anyways, it seemed everyone in the building was watching over her.

She had just come from another therapy session down stairs and was heading for the bullpen so they could all go to lunch. As she approached the glass door she was about to reach out to open it, but as usual someone beat her to it. She just looked up and, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, smiled before stepping through. As she did she glanced down and smiled even wider. Whenever she was feeling bad she would look at her hand and whatever was bothering her would melt away. She almost couldn't believe that a simple engagement ring could have such an effect on her.

As she got closer to her fiancée's desk, he looked over and practically jumped out of his chair. He rushed over to her and placed a gentle kiss on her head before wrapping his arms protectively around her waist. Derek did this every time and it still made her laugh.

"You guys ready for lunch?" Penelope asked as Hotch and JJ came toward them.

"Yep." JJ answered with a smile

The other agents appeared to take little notice of them as they left except for a nod or smile once in awhile, but to an outsider the scene before them might have been a bit intimidating, if not odd. Hotch and Emily were just ahead, followed by a limping Garcia who was flanked by Morgan on her right and JJ on the left, and right over Garcia's shoulder was Reid. It was as if Penelope had five very protective body guards whose sole purpose was to insure her safety. That's how they left the bullpen and how they walked to the car. They were protecting her from the world while giving her support at the same time. Like a body protecting it's heart.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.


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